The Needs Of Many
by Tergon
Summary: Part II of the Genetex Saga. Kurt, now a member of the team, is still trying to work out his new life. It doesn't take much, however, before that life is threatened along with those of his friends.
1. Chapter 1

"...and with an atomic weight of approximately 16 grams, Oxygen is without doubt the most vital element in the world for our survival. Without it, we..."  
  
Kurt willed his eyes to remain open. It wouldn't do to fall asleep in the middle of class, no matter how tired he was. However, the science teacher was not helping; right now, Kurt was having difficulty inhaling oxygen while staying awake, let alone learning about its atomic weight.  
  
It wasn't that he wasn't used to being an early riser. Before he came to the Institute, he'd been getting up at the crack of dawn, or earlier, in order to find food for the day. It was just that he was also used to keeping his own time; if he was hungry, he ate. If he was thirsty, he drank. If he was tired, he slept. It worked for him, always had. He just wasn't used to keeping a schedule, that was all.  
  
Well, that and Logan's idea of early-morning training. He vaguely recalled how it had started; Logan had been impressed with Kurt's fighting capabilities, and had decided to take the blue mutant under his wing. Whether Kurt liked it or not. Now, a 5:00am wakeup was a three-day per week thing. He'd joined the institute over six months ago, and it had been fine then; now that he'd begun going to Bayville High with the other students, it was getting harder.  
  
Which, of course, led to his current problem. Professor Xavier had decided that Kurt would not be able to go to a public school until he'd learned to live amongst people who weren't as open-minded as the population of Heirlegart, his onetime home that was now nothing but old rubble and graves. After his years in Genetex and his time as a hermit in the mountains, Kurt had forgotten how to live with other people at all, let alone these rather naïve Americans. It had taken almost four months before he'd been judged safe to go out in public, and that didn't count the six weeks beforehand when he didn't have the holowatch that Charles had given him. As a result, he'd been going to the new school for only a few weeks, and was considered strange by most of the student body. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes.  
  
"Mr. Wagner? Are you in there?"  
  
Kurt snapped out of his reverie to see the entire class, including the teacher, watching him.  
  
_Ja_, he thought. _Mistakes just like that one_. He grinned weakly.  
  
"Er... what was the question, mein herr?"  
  
The teacher put his hands on his (ample) hips. "I asked if you were awake."  
  
Kurt grimaced. "Sort of?"  
  
The teacher held out a small note. "Well, maybe if you deliver this note to Principal Darkholme, you'll be able to wake up properly, hmmm?"  
  
Kurt cursed under his breath as he walked to the front of the class and retrieved the note. Nodding to his friends sitting around his now empty desk, he left the room and walked off toward the Principal's office. Behind him, a steady drone started up again.  
  
"Chlorine, with the chemical symbol Cl..."

* * *

Raven Darkholme looked at the note in her hand, then returned her attention to the young man sitting opposite her. "You fell asleep in class?" she asked.  
  
Kurt shook his head. "Nein. I almost fell asleep in class. Herr Lees sent me here before I nodded off completely. He says that you are to help me to stay awake." While Raven blinked at that instruction, Kurt concentrated on keeping a straight face. One of the good points of having English as a second language, he reflected, was that one could make statements like that to total strangers and get away with it.  
  
Raven put the note on her desk. "That is not my responsibility, Mr. Wagner. I would suggest that if you cannot remain awake in school, you return home until you have had all the sleep you need." She picked up the telephone on her desk. "Who are you staying with?"  
  
"Herr Xavier," replied Kurt absently. Since he had no reason to suspect Raven of even knowing Charles personally, he missed her flinch at the name. Raven recovered her composure.  
  
"You are staying at the Xavier Institute?" she asked carefully.  
  
"Jawohl."  
  
"Hmm." Raven replaced the telephone's receiver. "Well, have my secretary call one of your guardians to come and collect you." Kurt rose to comply, but as he did so, Raven spoke again. "If you have any other problems, come and see me. For now, try and get some sleep."  
  
Kurt shrugged. "As you wish, Frau. May I be excused?" Raven nodded and Kurt left the room. After the door closed, Raven picked up the phone once more and pressed a button on the speed dial. It was answered on the second ring.  
  
"Erik?" she asked.  
  
"Yes?" came the deep voiced reply.  
  
"You're going to want to hear this..."

* * *

Kurt and Ororo walked into the room, the former giving off a jaw-cracking yawn as he entered. Logan and Hank looked up.  
  
"Gettin' tired, Elf?" Asked Logan. "Hell, if you can't handle a little workout before school, all you gotta do is say so."  
  
Kurt waved one hand at him. "Give me a few hours sleep and meet me in the danger room. I'll show you exactly how much trouble I have handling it, Herr Logan," he retorted.  
  
Hank grinned, but didn't continue that line of conversation. "Is the school aware you've left for the day?"  
  
"Jawohl," confirmed Kurt. "Frau Darkholme sent me home during Chemistry since I couldn't stay awake."  
  
Ororo broke in. "Then I would suggest that you get some sleep, don't you think?" Kurt nodded tiredly and vanished in a small implosion of air. Ororo turned to glare at Logan. "Happy?"  
  
Logan blinked. "Wha?"  
  
"You've been running the poor boy off his feet. It's no wonder he's exhausted!"  
  
Logan shook his head. "Elf's never complained to me..."  
  
Hank broke in. "If he's so finely trained, then it does make sense, Ororo. Lord knows we're having enough trouble with the Brotherhood at the moment, so if Kurt is capable of dealing with them, why shouldn't we use his capabilities to everyone's advantage? What's the harm?"  
  
"Far greater than you may think, Hank," answered Charles. The others turned to look at him as he entered the room, still speaking. "Yes, the Brotherhood is causing us trouble. Yes, Kurt is most likely powerful enough to deal with them easily. Yes, if he's on our side, then it makes sense that he could help with our current difficulty." Charles stopped moving as he reached the table. "However, we are also trying to help Kurt. There are scars within his mind, Hank, scars we cannot see. What the scientists at Genetex did has damaged his mind more than you think."  
  
Hank was intrigued. "In what way?"  
  
"He has a fear – a phobia, almost – of being used by another. Francis Baine saw the same potential in Kurt that we do; but he abused that potential, preferring to turn Kurt into a slave rather than an ally. What Baine did is exactly what we are fighting against, why this place exists. And I will not follow in his footsteps." Charles pulled back from the table. "Besides, Ororo is right. If Kurt is so tired that he is unable to continue his studies, then we must give him more time to rest. As you pointed out, he needs no more training in combat; he's already potentially lethal. His education is further behind, and so needs more attention. Therefore, we can sacrifice the training for the sake of his schooling." With that, Charles left the room. Ororo smirked at Logan.  
  
"So. Are you going to cancel those training sessions, now?" she asked. Logan's reply was so mumbled that she couldn't hear it. "Pardon?"  
  
"Fine," Logan grated out. "The sessions are gonna' be cancelled. Happy now?"  
  
"Very," answered Ororo sweetly. She left the room, leaving Hank to raise an eyebrow at Logan. Logan picked up a roll off the table and threw it at his friend.  
  
"Shaddup."

* * *

As Scott turned the engine off, the small group got out of the car and began to walk toward the garage exit. He glanced at Jean, who shook her head with a smile as she listened to the conversation between Evan, Rogue and Kitty.  
  
"...and it's like, so obvious, you know? She should like, just ask him and get it over with," Kitty was saying. Rogue shook her head.  
  
"Are you kidding? Boy's so shy it's amazing he doesn't run away every time she looks at him," she argued.  
  
"Besides," Evan added, "they're not exactly a match made in heaven, you know? The dirty-peasant-cum-lab-rat and the high-and-mighty-princess? I can't see it working..."  
  
"Kind of like Kit and Lance," observed Rogue.  
  
"Like, yea – hey!" Kitty scowled. "Me and Lance are meant to be!"  
  
"...sterilized," finished Evan, who suddenly had to run ahead as Kitty assaulted him with her bag. Scott turned to Jean.  
  
"What do you think?" he asked.  
  
Jean shrugged. "Kurt has some issues, yeah. He definitely doesn't know how to act around Amara – he's almost scared of her. Amara's got problems of her own – she can't be seen with a humble peasant, now can she? Still," she continued, "If it works, it works."  
  
Scott nodded at that and turned to watch as Logan drove the van into the garage, parking it next to Scott's car. The students piled out and headed toward the mansion, Amara engaged in some conversation with Jubilee as they walked. Scott glanced at Rogue and Jean, recognised the speculative looks on their faces, and stepped in front of them.  
  
"Don't even think about it," he warned them as he herded them toward the building despite their protests. "If it works, it'll work, remember? So let it go and see if the damn thing works!" Eventually the girls gave in and the trio followed everyone into the mansion. As they walked in, the others were busily raiding the fridge.  
  
Amara stepped back from the chaos and spoke to Ororo. "Where is Kurt?" she asked. "The others said he left school early today."  
  
Ororo nodded. "He's asleep. He's been run into the ground by someone -" here she gave Logan a black look "- and by my guess won't be up until tomorrow morning."  
  
Amara looked disappointed. "Oh," was all she said, and left the room. Kitty watched this and turned to smirk at the others.  
  
"Oh yeah – she's like, so _totally_ not right for him, Evan." Evan glared at her, but she just grinned. "Whatever. I'm going to call Lance."  
  
And with that she left the room. 


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, students trudged downstairs, most of them still rubbing sleep from their eyes. Sitting at the dining room table were Logan, Kurt and Jamie, the latter two discussing who would win a fight between Batman and Spiderman. In the kitchen, waiting for the coffee to perk, were Hank and Ororo. All five looked up and gave various greetings as the others arranged themselves around the room. Kurt nearly choked on his bacon when Amara flopped into the seat next to him, accidentally crushing his tail as she did so.  
  
"Amy!" he gasped, spraying toast crumbs into the air. "_Bitte, liebeschen_, watch where you're sitting!"  
  
Amara squeaked and shot up, retrieving the injured appendage as she did so. Handing Kurt his tail, she sat down more carefully this time. "Have you had enough sleep now, do you think?" she asked him.  
  
Kurt nodded. "Ja. Herr Logan has decided that I no longer need training at five in the morning, so now I can sleep in to a decent hour."  
  
Logan grunted. "Ya were still up before 6:30, elf," he growled.  
  
Kurt nodded and waved his fork. "But you must admit that there is quite a difference between waking up at five o' clock and working out for two hours, as opposed to an extra hour's sleep."  
  
Kitty sat down opposite him and yawned. "You call this a decent hour?"  
  
Kurt blinked. "What time do you call a decent hour, Kitty?" he asked, confused.  
  
"How about sometime past 7:30 in the morning?" Rogue suggested, but Kurt gave a dismissive wave of his hand.  
  
"In Heirlegart, we woke at dawn to do the work that was required of us. Nobody minded, because it was the norm. Before I came here, I woke at dawn when I slept in. Usually I was awake to greet the rising sun. When I first came here I actually thought that you were all rather lazing."  
  
"Lazy," corrected Amara from his side. "You thought we were lazy, not lazing."  
  
Kurt smiled. "Danke, Amy."  
  
Everyone ignored Evan pretending to gag into his cereal and got on with breakfast. Not surprisingly, Kurt finished first and rose to his feet. "I'm off for the shower," he announced to no-one in particular, made to leave. Before he did, Bobby called out from the opposite side of the room.  
  
"Kurt, you got those physics notes? We got a test in third period today."  
  
Kurt nodded. "Ja, I know. I will give you the notes before class, as long as I don't get sent to see Frau Darkholme again before then. I doubt she would app – appre -"  
  
"Appreciate," supplied Amara. Kurt nodded.  
  
"Ja. I doubt she would appreciate seeing me again so soon."  
  
Rahne shivered. "Ah can't stand Principal Darkholme," she informed the others. "I dinnae know what, but she just smells... off. I dinnae ken why."  
  
Kurt grinned. "She gave me the day off school, Rahne. How bad could she be?"

* * *

When they arrived at school later that day, the object of their conversation watched them through the window. Behind her, Magneto put down the folder of information that he'd been looking at.  
  
"Forged," was his verdict. "Mr. Wagner's files don't contain one single gem of truth, except for his actually being from Germany."  
  
Raven turned to face him. "I also haven't been able to work out what he's capable of doing yet. Whatever his gift is, he hides it well."  
  
Magneto nodded. "I've had the same difficulty. He's evidently well used to his abilities, so can easily go without using them."  
  
"So," Raven surmised. "Charles pulls a new mutant out of thin air, one with no past and no sign of having even existed before he came here, and who is adept in the use of his powers. We, of course know nothing about this."  
  
Magneto nodded in agreement. "We need to find out information about young master Wagner. Have the other Brotherhood members follow him and find out what they can. Via any means necessary."  
  
Raven nodded in acknowledgement as Magneto left the room. She'd contact the boys after third period; there was a general free study class in that time slot, so they'd be able to do their job then.  
  
When fourth period rolled around, Kurt would be in for quite a surprise.

* * *

Bobby was practically bouncing off the walls as the group walked away from the physics test. Slowing down next to Kurt, he clapped a friendly hand onto the German boy's back.  
  
"Dude!" he exclaimed. "I think I actually aced that test – those notes saved my ass..." Bobby shook his head. "How do you know that stuff?"  
  
Kurt reached back and removed Bobby's hand from his shoulder before answering. "It's just part of being me," he replied with a shrug. "I don't know how I know physics, I just know it. Part of my ability, I guess."  
  
"Kurt!" hissed Scott. "Keep your voice down!"  
  
Amara rolled her eyes. "Calm yourself. There's nobody to hear it." Indeed, the hall was almost totally deserted – unusual for a period when virtually no-one had classes. Turning a corner in the hallway, they came upon the reason.  
  
In the middle of the hall, surrounded by a large group of students, there was a fight going on. Not really much or a fight, though – the odds were four on to one, and the one boy evidently wasn't much of a fighter. Skinny, gangly limbed and bespectacled, he was one of Bayville's many social outcasts, not accepted by the others after being branded a geek. Mostly he was left alone and was fairly quiet, although he was at the top of all of his classes. Nobody ever spoke to him – few even knew his name.  
  
His opposing quartet, however, were well-known to everyone. Scott's breath hissed out as he recognized Lance Alvers, Pietro Maximoff, Fred Dukes, and Todd Tolenski. The infamous Brotherhood Boys. They were currently taking it in turns to knock the defenceless boy to the ground and jeer at him as he tried to get up again. Kurt took one look at the scene before him and acted almost without thought. Breaking through the surrounding ring of people, he grabbed the boy's current tormentor – Lance – and hurled him against the opposite wall. Seizing Todd, the next in line, he slammed the foul-smelling boy against a wall of lockers and growled into his face.  
  
"What are you doing, arschloch?" he snarled. Todd, unable to form words due to Kurt's fists at his throat, could only give a strangled croak in reply. Kurt just sneered at him, dropped Todd on the floor and stepped back. Pietro and Fred stepped menacingly toward him, but were stopped by the arrival of the other students from the Institute.  
  
"Walk away, asshole," spat Scott at them, while Evan visibly restrained himself from attacking Pietro. Todd and Lance got to their feet and stood beside their friends, the latter giving a he-started-it-I'm-innocent look to Kitty. The surrounding crowd began to buzz at the possibility of a larger fight, but were silenced by the PA system crackling to life.  
  
"Lance Alvers, Todd Tolenski, Pietro Maximoff and Fred Dukes report to principal Darkholme's office immediately," squawked the metallic voice. A general groan rose from the audience, which soon began to disperse. Lance continued to glare at Kurt.  
  
"Got yourself a new boyfriend, Shades?" he smirked at Scott. "Gotta admit, the guy's got balls – but I bet you already knew that one, now didn't you?"  
  
Amara stepped up to Lance. "He may have balls," she replied sweetly, "but if you don't want yours ground into paste, I suggest you move along."  
  
Lance glared at Amara, before giving a parting shot to Kurt. "We're gonna finish this later, pal." With that, he left, the others trailing behind him.  
  
Kurt dropped to his knees and helped the groggy-looking boy to his feet. He was bleeding from one corner of his mouth, but his glasses were somehow intact. Kurt held him up so he wouldn't fall.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked. The boy nodded.  
  
"Just," he replied. "Thanks to you, anyway." He extended one hand. "Simon Kayle," he introduced himself.  
  
Kurt held one hand up to show that he didn't shake hands, but returned the introduction. "Kurt Wagner," he answered.  
  
Jean came up next to Simon and gently took his head in her hands. Inspecting it, she oohed in sympathy. "You're going to get a lump there..." she held one finger in front of Simon's face. "Follow it with your eyes."  
  
Simon didn't even bother. "I don't have a concussion," he informed her. "Just a little wobbly, that's all..."  
  
At this point, another girl ran up and grabbed Simon's arm. In spite of themselves, the boys all raised an eyebrow as she arrived; long blonde hair hung to her shoulders, framing a delicately formed face with enormous blue eyes. This delectable head was placed atop a very well-proportioned body, producing a remarkably attractive young woman. Oblivious to their stares, the girl began questioning Simon furiously.  
  
"Simon! Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they? Did they steal anything?" she babbled,  
  
Simon held up one hand, cutting her off. "I'm fine, these guys broke it up before anything bad happened." The others winced at the idea that what had happened wasn't bad by Simon's standards, but he didn't notice. He turned to the others and gestured. "My sister Vicki. Vick, these are the guys who just saved my ass."  
  
Vicki turned to the others. "Thanks," she gushed. "Those jerks have been giving Simon heaps, lately, and he's not real good at standing up for himself, so..."  
  
Kurt grinned. "It was nothing, frau. All in a day's work." As Simon nearly fell, Kurt caught him and steadied him again. "...which is evidently not over yet." He frowned at Simon. "You said you did not have a concussion," he accused the lankier boy. Simon shrugged and Vicki rolled her eyes.  
  
"Come on, Simon, you're going home. You don't have any classes for the rest of the day, so it doesn't matter anyway," she ordered.  
  
Scott looked unsure. "You think he can make it all the way?"  
  
Vicki nodded. "We only live a few blocks away. I can help him go that far."  
  
Kurt shook his head. "I have him now, I'll help you get him home. I have no classes now, either..." he caught Amara's scandalised glare. "What?"  
  
Amara's look could have cracked stone. "Nothing. Kurt. Just fine," she grated. Scott stepped between them.  
  
"Okay, get Simon back to his house," he told Kurt. "Then get back here, pronto, got it?"  
  
Kurt nodded. "Jawohl," he agreed. With one final confused look at Amara, he walked off with Simon and Vicki.  
  
Kitty nudged Rogue and Jean as they began to head off to study hall. "That boy needs a long, long talking to..."

* * *

Not far away, the Brotherhood boys walked out of Principal Darkholme's office, deep in thought. Lance raised his head and grinned at the others.  
  
"Brilliant. Absolutely fucking _brilliant_," he enthused. "This is just what I was talking about. That French kid is gonna get _his_."  
  
"He's German, yo," murmured Todd. The others looked at him strangely. "Well, he _is..._"  
  
Lance shrugged. "Whatever. Look, we need to interrogate this guy, and I know just how to do it..."  
  
"What're you thinkin'?" Fred wanted to know.  
  
Lance grinned. "You guys remember the abandoned Trask house just west of town...?" 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the kind comments, kids. To insert a shameless self-plug; if you like fight scenes, check out Them's Fightin' Words over at AFFN. Rated for violence, not smut, if you were concerned. It's under the same name as here, Tergon. 

Okay, end self-plug. On with the ficcery!

* * *

Once they had reached the Kayle household, Vicki opened the front door and reached out, taking Simon from Kurt's shoulder and getting him to lean on her. She smiled at Kurt.  
  
"Thanks, Kurt," she said. "You've been really helpful."  
  
Kurt grinned and bowed. "Any time at all, frau," he acknowledged. As Simon waved a weary farewell, Kurt turned and walked down the path out the front gate. His thoughts turned to his friends in general and Amara in particular – he still didn't understand why she'd been so angry at his offer to help Simon. _He'd have to ask her about that one when he got back to school..._  
  
Kurt was so engrossed in his thoughts that he never saw the silver blur streaking toward him. The wind was knocked out of him so badly that he barely registered being carried across town at an incredible speed; his fur, hidden under his hologram, was the only reason he didn't get blisters from the wind pushing against him. After less than a minute of this rapid motion, he was at his apparent destination; a decrepit old shack on the edge of town, abandoned for years and a half-mile from any neighbour's home. Kurt was carried in the front door and released; his momentum sent him flying into a nearby wall and rebounding onto the floor. Shaking his head, he got to his feet to see the one who had brought him here. Pietro Maximoff grinned nastily at him.  
  
"You'reheavierthanyoulook, pal," he shot. Kurt, not quite as fluent in English as he'd like to be, had not the slightest idea what the speed demon had said.  
  
"Vas?"  
  
"He said you're in deep shit," called a familiar voice from across the room. One by one, Lance, Todd and Fred stepped up next to Pietro. "We got orders, pal, to find out who the fuck you are," continued Lance. "So we're here to do just that." He gave a mirthless laugh. "I told you we'd finish that fight later. Well, guess what? It's later..."  
  
Kurt looked at the four mutants, who glared back at him. His fighting instincts began to count up the odds against him.  
  
_Four on to one... all adept in use of abilities, all with fighting experience, opposing sides unaware of the other's capabilities... ambushed by opponents on territory they have chosen at a time of their choosing..._  
He gave a hungry little smile.  
_This was going to be interesting..._  
  
Kurt straightened to his full height and eyed off his adversaries. "So, I suppose we cannot simply come to a gentlemen's agreement?" he asked.  
  
Todd grinned. "You're out of your frikkin' mind, yo. We ain't goin' nowhere 'fore we get the answers we want, yo?"  
  
"Ja? And what are the questions?"  
  
"Who are ya, where'd ya come from, and what can ya do?" grunted Fred. "Those'll do for starters."  
  
Kurt grinned and bowed mockingly. "Kurt Wagner, Germany..." his eyes narrowed. "Anything I want..."  
  
"Ooooooh..." teased Pietro. "Toughtalkpal, butareyouastoughasyouact?"  
  
Kurt looked at him blankly, then shifted his gaze to Lance. "What was that? Mein English is not so good that I can understand gibberish..."  
  
Lance stepped forwards and smacked a fist into his other hand. "He said, are you as tough as you act?"  
  
Kurt's hands were still behind his back from the little bow he'd given Fred. Now, unseen by the others, his hand reached for the buttons of his holowatch. "Oh, ja," he informed the others. "In fact, I would think that I am far more dangerous than you seem to give me credit for."  
  
Todd sneered. "That a fact, yo?"  
  
Abruptly, the mockingly smiling face of Kurt Wagner vanished, leaving a blue-furred demon in his place. As the Brotherhood members gasped in shock, Kurt grinned, displaying sharp-pointed fangs.  
  
"Ja, Todd. It is a fact." Bringing his hands out in front of him, he cracked his knuckles loudly in the stunned silence as his tail whipped the air behind him. Lowering his hands to his sides, he waited for a response. Lance was first. Swallowing, he managed to croak out a single question.  
  
"Wha... what the fuck are you?"  
  
Kurt's grin grew wider. "Dangerous, Herr Alvers. Want to play?"  
  
And suddenly, as the mutants began to move, the small, decrepit building had become a battleground.

* * *

Todd made the opening attack; whipping out his tongue, he captured Kurt's arm and pulled him off balance. While Kurt's guard was down, Pietro zipped in and rabbit-punched Kurt in the side. Snarling, Kurt flipped sideways in mid-air and smashed a foot into Pietro's chest, knocking him into a pile of broken wooden beams. Twisting, Kurt landed catlike on his feet and flicked his wrist, causing Todd's tongue to whiplash into the smaller boy's face. With a grunt of pain, Todd let go of Kurt's arm and stumbled backwards holding one hand over his left eye. As he backed out, Fred and Lance took their turns.  
  
Fred let out a deafening bellow as he charged at Kurt with all the cunning and finesse of a herd of stampeding cows. Kurt waited until the last moment, then jumped high above Fred's head, grabbing one of the wooden roof beams with both hands, kicking the enormous mutant in the head as he passed. Fred barely stumbled; instead, he skidded to a halt and turned, reaching for Kurt's legs as he hung from the roof. Kurt scrambled onto the beam and balanced there, grinning, just out of Fred's grasp. The grin, however, did not last; suddenly there was a rumbling sound, courtesy of Lance, and the roof began to collapse. Kurt lost his balance and fell right into Fred's hands. Fred slapped one meaty hand across Kurt's skull and hurled the smaller mutant at a nearby wall. With a cloud of plaster dust and a loud crash, Kurt smashed right through the wall and into the room beyond. Pietro, having regained his feet, zipped over to the hole in the plaster and peered through, trying to see Kurt. The others crowded behind him, waiting for Kurt's next move.  
  
Suddenly, Pietro was pulled from view, disappearing with a scream of fear, straight up toward the roof in the next room. Exchanging glances, the other three ran through the gap to see what had happened. As they entered, Pietro, now sporting several new bruises and cuts, sailed through the air and collided with Todd and Lance, knocking them to the floor. Fred, managing to keep his feet, looked around frantically for Kurt.  
  
"Have at thee!" Kurt suddenly dropped from the roof, holding a wooden beam in each hand and swinging them like clubs. Delivering three blows to Fred's skull, he goaded the huge boy into a charge toward the opposite side of the room. Fred shouted with fury as he attacked once more, waiting for Kurt to leap over his head again. Instead, Kurt teleported, leaving Fred with a mouthful of brimstone, wondering what the hell had happened. With a minor implosion of air, he reappeared behind Fred and slammed his clubs into the back of Fred's knees and jumped high, kicking him in the back of the head. Fred stumbled, tripped, and fell to the floor with a resounding **BOOM**.  
  
Before then, nobody had known that the house had a basement.  
  
Fred smashed through the half-rotted floorboards and landed heavily, knocking his head on the cement floor. He was out cold instantly.  
  
Across the room, the others were stunned at the sight of Fred's defeat, combined with the shock of seeing Kurt use his powers. Lance summed it up in five words:  
  
"We are so _seriously_ fucked."  
  
Kurt spun at his words and advanced, his eyes glowing wildly in the dim light, clubs at the ready. Todd leaped to his feet and snapped out his tongue, catching one of Kurt's weapons and pulling it out of the blue mutant's grasp. Wielding it like a sword, he launched himself at Kurt. This was arguably the most idiotic thing Todd had ever done; of course, he had no way of knowing that Kurt was an expert swordfighter.  
  
He found out the hard way.  
  
Kurt swung his weapon almost faster than even Pietro could see it, far too fast for Todd to parry. In two blows, the length of wood was torn out of his hand; a split second later, Kurt's plank shattered into splinters over Todd's skull. His eyes rolled up in his head and he dropped into an ungraceful heap to the floor.  
  
Kurt, now unarmed but dangerous nonetheless, bared his fangs at his two remaining opponents. "Then there were two..." he growled.  
  
Pietro suddenly appeared next to him and threw a series of punches into Kurt's chest, knocking him back against a wall. Kurt growled again and suddenly crawled backwards up the wall as Pietro stared in shock. A moment later, Kurt's feet were level with Pietro's face; a devastating kick knocked the third member of the Brotherhood unconscious. Lance, the only one remaining, turned to run.  
  
_BAMF_  
  
Kurt's first punch landed in Lance's solar plexus; when he doubled over in pain, the second punch was an uppercut that snapped him upright once more. A roundhouse kick dropped him like a bag of potatoes.  
  
Lance groaned, barely conscious, and watched Kurt approaching him again. The demonic-looking blue mutant dropped into a crouch next to Lance and spoke quietly.  
  
"Did you get the answers you were looking for, Herr Alvers?" Kurt asked.  
  
Lance spat out a mouthful of blood and managed to speak. "Who... who are... you?"  
  
Kurt paused for a moment, searching for inspiration. Then he grinned. "I am Nightcrawler, du Scheißkopf. Don't forget it." With that, he slammed a palm into the back of Lance's head, knocking him unconscious with his companions. Then he rose, looked around the room one last time, and vanished in a plume of smoke. 


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, the other students arrived back at the mansion to find Kurt already there, eating what appeared to be his thirtieth plate of food as Ororo fussed over him, waving an ice pack. Evan took one look and began ranting.  
  
"K-Man! Where the _hell_ did you go? You were gonna come right back after you took Simon home, so why didn't you, huh? We were worried abou -" Evan cut himself off as he got a closer look at the bandages on Kurt's ribs and the swelling from his bruises. "Holy crap," he whispered, earning a glare from Ororo. He winced. "Sorry, but – dude, what happened to you?"  
  
Kurt swallowed his current mouthful. "I was... busy... with the Brotherhood," he explained. "They jumped me after I delivered the Kayle siblings to their home." Swiftly, he outlined the brawl in the abandoned building, ending with, "mein watch stopped working after herr Dukes put me through the wall, so I was forced to return here. Frau Ororo has been caring for me since then, although -" he gently but firmly pushed Ororo's hands away again "- she does not seem to understand that ice packs have little effect when they are working through fur."  
  
Scott, meanwhile, was trying not to laugh. "Nightcrawler?'  
  
Kurt grinned proudly. "Ja. I was stuck for something to say, and then I remembered that you all get code-names, so..."  
  
Scott began to chuckle. "But... you called yourself _Nightcrawler_?"  
  
Kurt's pleased expression gave way to one of confusion. "Ja. What? It's threatening, it's impressive, it's cool..."  
  
Kitty bit her lip. "It's, like, a worm."  
  
Kurt blinked. "Vas?"  
  
Rahne sat down opposite Kurt. "A Nightcrawler is a worm, Kurt. A big, ugly, worm."  
  
Kurt looked at Amara. "Mein English must be failing again, Amy. What are they saying...?"  
  
"Der nightcrawler ist ein wurm," Amara informed Kurt. Kurt slowly digested this and, when he'd taken in the full brunt of what it meant, swore. Continuously. Amara, the only one who could understand him fully, went red; Jean, who was able to pick up a general idea of it via telepathy, was fairly impressed as well. Jamie, oblivious to what Kurt was actually saying, spoke up.  
  
"Why can't you just change it?" he suggested. Evan shook his head.  
  
"It was the last thing K-man said to Alvers before he knocked him out," he explained to Jamie. "You can't take something like that back, it'd spoil a dramatic moment. He's Nightcrawler now, like it or not."  
  
Rogue jabbed Evan in the ribs. "Shut it, bone-boy," she said. "Ah think he's right; Nightcrawler does sound pretty cool." Jubilee and Bobby nodded in agreement with what Rogue said.

* * *

Meanwhile Ororo, frustrated in her efforts to put Kurt on ice, left the room with a semi-melted ice pack in her hand. Entering the kitchen, she saw Hank and Logan preparing various snacks from the fridge. Striding up to the pair, she slapped each one in turn.  
  
Hank blinked. "Um... hello?"  
  
"I hope you're pleased with yourselves!" she snapped at them.  
  
Logan held up one hand. "'Ro, what in God's name are you talkin' about?"  
  
Ororo tapped one foot impatiently. "Kurt. You two, fighting with one another all the time, trying to make him fight with everyone else... now look what's happened!"  
  
Hank looked irritated. "He was _ambushed_, Ororo. We did _nothing_ to cause this, so I find it rather unfair that you blame us for any misfortune that has befallen Kurt."  
  
Logan nodded in agreement. "And if the elf weren't as good a fighter as he is, he'd be a lot worse off at the moment."  
  
Ororo glared pure venom at the two of them, and suddenly hurled the ice pack into Logan's face. Then she slapped Hank again. Then she stalked out of the room.  
  
Hank rubbed his face and looked at Logan. "Methinks that Ms. Monroe is being unduly harsh to the two of us..."  
  
Logan agreed. "We oughta do something to calm 'er down."  
  
Hank shook his head. "You know that's out of the question, Logan. Charles was most explicit about that. We are forbidden from any little games like that, ever since the – er – noodle incident[1]... remember?"  
  
Logan shuddered from the memory, but his resolve did not falter. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, Poindexter. Besides, Chuck said no pranks on each other. I say we call a truce between ourselves and focus on gettin' 'Ro to lighten up."  
  
Hank considered this offer. Things were getting rather out of hand where Ororo's strictness was concerned... he sighed. "Alright. United we stand, my friend?"  
  
Logan grinned. "Against a common foe," he finished. Hank, knowing exactly how far he'd get in asking where Logan had heard that quotation, simply picked up his plate. The two mutants walked over to the kitchen table, sat, and began to eat.  
  
"So..." Logan said slowly. "How are we going to do this?"  
  
"Good question," agreed Hank. "We'd best put our heads together on this one..."

* * *

School the next day was an interesting affair. Kurt's hologram hid any injuries that were still visible; the same could not be said of the Brotherhood. All of them sported bumps, bruises and scabs from their run-in with Kurt, injuries they couldn't hide and were forced to display to the general public. Naturally, they refused to explain to anyone exactly how they'd been beaten up. However, Kurt's efforts to break up the fight yesterday had not gone unnoticed by the student body, and rumours were flying around unchecked. By lunch, Kurt had been interrogated more times than he cared to remember, and his mood had ensured that while his friends grouped around him at the lunch table, no-one except Amara was actually willing to sit next to him for fear of being sniped at.  
  
Almost no-one.  
  
"Uhhh... is anyone sitting here?" Kurt looked up, surprised, as Simon gestured to the empty seat on Kurt's left. Kurt shook his head, surprised – Simon rarely ate in the cafeteria at all, let alone choose to sit in the midst of a large group of people. Carefully, Simon sat his tray of food on the table and took a seat. However, he did not begin to eat. He gave Kurt a searching look, his gave not leaving Kurt's face, until the German boy finally said something.  
  
"Vas?" Kurt wiped his mouth. "Do I have something on mein face?"  
  
Simon shook his head. "No. Not a scratch."  
  
Kurt looked wary. "Why should I be scratched?" he asked carefully.  
  
Simon snorted. "Don't give me that," he said. "Just tell me, is it true? Did you really beat those jerks up?"  
  
Scott broke in. "Where did you hear that?" he demanded. Simon shrugged.  
  
"Everywhere. It's all over the school today. Yesterday Kurt sticks up for me and Alvers threatens him, and now Alvers has had the crap kicked out of him along with his buddies. People talk, and I was just wondering..."  
  
Evan snorted. "Get outta here, you can't just-"  
  
"Evan!" Kurt cut him off sharply. He looked keenly at Simon. "Why do you think I would beat herr Alvers?" he asked.  
  
Simon did not blink. "Because nobody has ever stood up for me before. You did. I saw your face when you hit Alvers, too. You know what it's like to be considered a freak. So when he challenged you, and when you looked capable of handling him, I decided that it was possible – just barely possible – that you'd done it."  
  
For a long while, Kurt did not reply. Finally, he spoke. "I'm not going to answer you now. Do you have a class during 5th period?"  
  
"No."  
  
"We will talk then."  
  
Simon nodded, then picked his untouched tray up and left with an absent farewell to the others. As soon as he was gone, Scott pounced on Kurt.  
  
"Are you out of your goddamn _mind_?" he hissed furiously. "You can't tell him _anything_! What if he finds out how you were able to beat those guys, huh? Did you think of _that_?"  
  
Kurt met Scott's eyes. "Ja, mein freund, I did. And I also know that Simon will not discover anything unless I actually tell him so, which I am certainly not going to."  
  
Rogue looked confused. "Then why are you going to talk to him?" she asked.  
  
"Because I owe him that."  
  
Scott cut in again. "You don't owe him _anything_!" he all but exploded.  
  
Kurt's gaze was ice. "Wrong, Scott. I owe him an explanation, from one freak to another. You, with your little army of female admirers and your large group of friends in this school, cannot understand that. So don't try." Kurt picked up his fork once more. "Judge not, lest ye be judged," was all he said for the remainder of lunch.

* * *

The members of the Brotherhood sat in the principal's office. Magneto stood in the room, holding a dossier of information in one hand. He looked at the four battered-looking boys and shook his head.  
  
"Avalanche, Toad, Quicksilver and Blob," he began, "I do not do this very often, so I would advise you to listen closely." The others exchanged glances, unsure of what was coming next. "I apologise," Magneto said gravely.  
  
Todd blinked. "Huh?"  
  
"For sending you to deal with this... Nightcrawler, as you called him. I was unaware of his potential, and as such made a mistake by pitting you against him. However, I believe I have found some quite fascinating information..." He opened the dossier and extracted a single sheet of paper, covered with closely-written text.  
  
"You've all heard of the Weapon X organisations in this country. In Europe, there is a similar, privately-owned organisation known as Genetex. I should say was; the company was disbanded just over six months ago."  
  
Raven raised an eyebrow. "What is the significance of this?" she asked.  
  
"A subject from their laboratories," answered Magneto. "Roughly seven years ago, a young mutant was captured in rural Germany. He was taken for testing, and pre-manifestation training. This training included reconnaissance, infiltration, espionage, sabotage, extraction and assassination, among various other skills."  
  
Tabitha blinked. "What does that mean?"  
  
Wanda, more familiar with this kind of jargon, answered her. "It means they captured some mutant kid, ran tests on him, and trained him to be like James Bond on steroids before his powers even came out."  
  
"Quite," agreed Magneto. "This particular subject was known only as number 01500-4127. He was ten years old upon capture; however, his training was never completed. Three years after his original capture, 4127 escaped the Genetex facility. A single attempt to recapture him was made, and almost succeeded. However, 4127 evaded the Genetex agents and was not heard from again... until last winter." He waved the sheet of paper. "This document details a mission led by Dr. Francis Baine, head scientist and private owner of the Genetex corporation. Subject 4127 was detected in this very area – in the mountains near the X-Men's headquarters, in fact. A strike force came here via Baine's private jet. And that was the last time that Baine or his soldiers were seen alive."  
  
"Unusually heavy snowstorms were blamed for their disappearance, but no effort was made to recover them – suggesting that those who wrote these reports knew better. It is virtually certain that they were able to locate 4127, but were unable to capture him. And they never left the area alive."  
  
Lance stirred uneasily. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" he asked.  
  
Magneto nodded. "These files contain a detailed description of 4127. Both in physical form and the nature of his abilities, he is... unique. The information you gave me regarding Nightcrawler matches that description exactly."  
  
Todd blinked. "So this guy... this Nightcrawler guy... he's this 4127 dude, yo?" Magneto nodded, and Todd continued. "And he's trained to take out anyone he picks a fight with, right? Sorta like he ain't gonna lose a fight, ever, right?"  
  
"That's correct, Toad..."  
  
Todd shot up in his seat, knocking the chair backwards. "_AND_ _YOU TOLD US TO PICK A GODDAMN FIGHT WITH THIS ASSHOLE? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKIN' MIND, YO_?" he screamed.  
  
"Sit down, Toad!" barked Magneto. When the lanky youth sat again, a dark scowl on his face, Magneto continued. "Yes, I unwittingly sent you to deal with Nightcrawler. Which was why I apologized," he added pointedly. "Now, I'm giving you new instructions regarding how we will deal with him."  
  
Pietro looked uneasy. "What?" he asked. "I'm not going anywhere near that freakshow, so don't try to make me..."  
  
"I'm not," Magneto replied. "None of you are."  
  
The others looked blankly at each other. "Huh?" Fred asked.  
  
"Nightcrawler is not only far too formidable for you to combat, but is a delicate case besides." He dropped the folder onto Raven's desk. "Nightcrawler is many things, but above all is a survivor. He will ally himself where best he can improve his situation. And that is a weakness we can exploit."  
  
Raven stirred. "How can we do that?" she asked. "Xavier has evidently won Nightcrawler's trust. The X-Men are in no immediate danger, and with Nightcrawler on their side are more powerful than ever. So I fail to see how we can convince him that joining the Brotherhood would aid his survival."  
  
Magneto smiled. "You need not worry about that, Mystique. Action is already being taken to deal with this... difficulty."

* * *

[1] An incident that is never described in detail or in general, and about which nothing is known, save that it was unpleasant and apparently involving noodles of some kind.  
Unless I'm mistaken, that's from Terry Pratchett's _Diskworld_.


	5. Chapter 5

Kurt walked into the otherwise empty room, holding the door open for Simon as he did so. Sitting on one of the empty desks, he looked at the bespectacled boy.  
  
"So?" he asked.  
  
Simon sat opposite Kurt. "You know what my questions are, Kurt. Are you going to answer them?"  
  
Kurt sighed. "Ja. I did it. As you say, I can understand what you are feeling when called a freak. And, also, herr Alvers _did_ challenge me, so it was within my interests to defend myself when he and his friends attacked me..."  
  
Simon blinked. "You know, some people would have just said they were sticking up for me without claiming it was self-defence..."  
  
Kurt smiled wistfully. "Ja, but I am a terrible liar."  
  
Simon snorted with laughter and got up. "Okay, then. Thank you, Kurt. It means a bunch to me."  
  
Kurt looked surprised. "That's it? You are leaving?" he asked.  
  
Simon nodded. "I have somewhere to be," he explained. "And... this was also kind of a setup. I was told to get you here alone, so..."  
  
Kurt looked wary. "Who told you that?" he said carefully.  
  
Simon grinned and opened the door. "He's all yours," he said as he walked out. Moments later, an embarrassed-looking Vicki walked into the room.  
  
Kurt blinked. "Um... guten tag?" he offered.  
  
Vicki went red. "Uh, hi, Kurt," she said with a little grin. "How are you?"  
  
Kurt shrugged. "Fein, I guess. And you?"  
  
"Oh, I'm good," she replied. Sitting on the desk next to Kurt, she looked at the floor. "Um, listen... about yesterday... I thought it was really nice of you to stick up for Simon like that."  
  
He grinned. "Ach, it was nothing. I'd have done the same for anyone."  
  
Vicki just smiled. "I'm sure you would have. But... see, I wanted to thank you for the effort, and... well, would you like to go see a movie or something, sort of to say 'thank you'?"  
_God, he's cute...  
_  
Kurt thought for a moment. He'd not been to the cinema often, so it was a rare treat – made all the rarer by the fact that Scott would not be there to tell him off at every available chance. _Hmm... Amara has not been happy with me lately,_ he thought. _Perhaps she might care to join us... the films always are able to cheer me up..._ "Ja," Kurt agreed. "That would be good."  
  
The two smiled at one another in complete misunderstanding as they made their separate plans – Vicki glad that a nice boy had accepted her offer, Kurt glad to be making a new friend. As they went their separate ways, wrapped in their thoughts, neither of them noticed the security camera in the hall, tracking their movements.  
  
In Raven's office, Magneto was very aware of what was going on in the hallway as he watched through the security monitors. And was very interested in what he saw.

* * *

After school had finished, the students made their way to the vehicles to head back to the Institute. Jean had cheerleading practice, so wouldn't be heading back for a while, and so there was an empty seat in Scott's car. Kurt took it. Since the sky was clouded over with rain threatening, the roof on the car was up and the trip began in relative silence.  
  
Eventually Kurt glanced at Scott. "Er... Scott..."  
  
Scott looked at his friend, then back at the road. "Yeah?"  
  
"I... I'm sorry I snapped at you during lunch," Kurt mumbled. "I was... annoyed at everyone then, questioning me all day and watching my every move, and... well, I vented mein frustrations on you. And I am sorry for doing so."  
  
Scott blinked – _he'd_ been about to apologise for annoying _Kurt_, so was a little taken aback by the apology. "Uh... that's okay..."  
  
In the back seat, Kitty leaned forward to look at Kurt, who was riding shotgun in Jean's usual seat. "You're apologising? You, like, must be in a good mood or something. Like, what gives?"  
  
"Yeah, spill it, blue boy," ordered Rogue.  
  
Kurt shrugged. "I suppose I am. I have been making new friends today."  
  
Evan laughed. "Who with? Simon the uber-geek?"  
  
Kurt shot him a dirty look. "He's not, but nein. With his schwester, Vicki."  
  
Scott's jaw dropped. "Vicki Kayle? You've been making friends with her?"  
  
Kurt looked confused. "Ja. What is wrong?"  
  
Evan clapped a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Nothing at all, man. Just that you picked a date with one of the hottest girls in school..."  
  
"It is not a date, Evan. She wanted to thank me for helping Simon, is all."  
  
Rogue snorted. "Sure. And how did she want to 'thank you'?"  
  
Kurt didn't get the sarcasm. "She invited me to accompany her to a film. Why?"  
  
Rogue and Evan looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Your English lessons covered the word 'naïve' yet, Kurt?" hooted Evan.  
  
"Vas?"  
  
Rogue wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. "That's a date, boyo. You need it spelled out for ya?"  
  
As Kurt blinked, stunned, Kitty just frowned. "What about Amara?" she asked.  
  
"Oh," said Kurt absently. "Thought I'd invite her, too. Might not be in good taste, if this truly is a date, as you say..."  
  
The laughter trailed off. Finally, Scott spoke. "You seriously didn't know?"  
  
Kurt smiled wistfully. "I grew up in a village where everyone knew everyone else. Mit my appearance, I was never a popular choice for the ladies, and besides that I was taken away when I was ten years old. I then spent three years in the laboratories of Genetex, and when I escaped, the village was destroyed with everyone in it. Having nowhere else to turn, I ran from there, eventually coming to this country and living alone in the mountains for two years. Since then, you have seen everything that has happened in my life."  
  
Kitty blinked. "Um... yeah?"  
  
Kurt let out an exasperated sigh. "So, from that story, perhaps you can tell me: at exactly what point am I supposed to have had any experience whatsoever mit girls?"  
  
No-one spoke for some time.  
  
Finally Evan broke the silence. "Okaaaay then..."  
  
"Yeah..." agreed Scott.  
  
Kitty looked at Rogue. "Are you, like, thinking what I'm thinking?"  
  
"Ah hope not," muttered Rogue, who was thinking about using a stapler to seal Kitty's mouth shut. Kitty took no notice of her tone.  
  
"We so _totally_ have to coach Kurt on dating..."  
  
Kurt, in spite of his apprehension, managed a sickly grin as Scott ever-so- slightly increased his speed. The trip was still going to take another twenty minutes.  
  
_Oh, joy..._

* * *

As they walked into the kitchen, Kurt was still blinking at what he'd been told. Logan was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. Ororo was making a cup of coffee and greeted them as they walked in. Kurt began to head for the fridge; however, at that moment, the door swung open behind them and the other students walked in, Amara at their head. Kurt let out a strangled squeak and teleported out of the room.  
  
Hank, bringing up the rear, raised an eyebrow. "And what has startled our teutonic friend?" he asked.  
  
"Don't ask," Scott replied as he removed a can of soda from the fridge and took a drink. "He got a little lecture on the way home, and is just a little bit freaked out right now..."  
  
Evan snickered, glanced at the confused-looking Amara, snickered again, and left the room with most of the others in tow. Bobby had the misfortune of staying behind as Ororo took a sip of her coffee – and promptly spat it back into the cup.  
  
"Bobby!" she snapped. "Salt in the sugar bowl? Again?" She glared at the startled youth.  
  
"But I didn't -" he tried, but Ororo just turned away to sit at the table opposite Logan.  
  
PRRRRRRBBBBBPTHTHTHTHTHTH  
  
As the whoopee cushion went flat and stopped its noise, Bobby let out a terrified whimper. Ororo slammed her hand down on the table and stood up. She strode over to Bobby, seized him by one ear, and was already lecturing him as she left the room.  
  
Hank winced and turned to Logan. "I told you not to do it..." he singsonged.  
  
Logan glared at him. "It was worth a try, Poindexter. We gotta start somewhere."  
  
Hank removed the whoopee cushion from the chair and sat. "However, it's preferable that when one begins a project, he makes the situation better, not worse."  
  
Logan snorted. "And do we see you making the situation better, Poindexter?"  
  
"Yes," Hank replied mildly.  
  
Logan blinked in surprise. "What did you do?"  
  
"Replaced all her coffee with decaf."  
  
"...good idea..."

* * *

Kurt paused outside the door to the rec room, took a deep breath, and entered. In one corner of the couch, Amara sat reading a book by the light of a single lamp, the only light source in the otherwise darkened room. Slowly, he walked over to where she sat.  
  
"Amy?" he asked softly.  
  
Amara sat up and blinked. "Who...?"  
  
Kurt mentally smacked himself in the forehead and stepped into the light, becoming visible as he left the shadows of the room. "Just me," he answered sheepishly.  
  
"Oh, hello Kurt," she smiled. She closed her book. "How can I help you?"  
  
Kurt forced a nervous tremor out of his voice. "I must go into town for a short time. I have an... errand to run, and then I shall be returning early." The 'errand' was to turn down the charms of Vicki Kayle, but Kurt saw no reason to tell Amara this.  
  
Amara made as if to rise. "Would you like some company?" she asked nonchalantly. Kurt waved one hand frantically.  
  
"No! Eh... no thank you, Amy. As I say, I will soon be returning. I was just wondering..." Kurt swallowed as his mouth had suddenly become very dry. "...if when I returned, you would perhaps accompany me in a return to town? There is a film at the cinema I would like to see, and if you would like to come...?"  
  
Amara shrugged. "Very well. What time shall you be returning?"  
  
"Um... at around seven?"  
  
"Good." Amara nodded. "I will wait for you then."  
  
Kurt grinned and tried not to squeak with nervousness. "Sehr gut. I will be leaving, then."  
  
Amara nodded. "Goodbye, then."  
  
Kurt walked two steps and vanished in an explosion of smoke. Amara waited a decent interval, then shot to her feet and ran for the stairs. She needed a shower, and some advice from the other girls if they were willing.  
  
Seven o' clock only gave her a few hours to get ready... 


	6. Chapter 6

Hank poked his head out of his room the instant he heard the door to the girl's rooms close. They'd been running around all night, giggling about something he'd decided he didn't want to know about. Just as he had something he'd rather they didn't know about. Jerking his head back and forth, he assured himself that the coast was clear, and bolted from the sanctuary of his room toward another door, some ten metres down the hall, clutching at his little surprise. Bursting into Logan's room, he slammed the door behind him.  
  
"Poindexter! What the hell are you..." Logan trailed off as he saw what Hank was holding. "Scratch that last one. What the _HELL_ is that?"  
  
"Keep your voice down!" hissed Hank furiously. "Do you want the others to hear you?" Knuckling at a more controlled pace to the table against one wall, he placed the object down, then sat in the chair and looked at Logan. "You wanted me to take a more active role in our little project, so..."  
  
Logan rubbed one hand over his eyes. "A more active role, Poindexter, would've been cracking jokes to get a rise out of her. _THAT_," he gestured, "ain't helping. Where'd ya get it, anyway?"  
  
"I'm a doctor, Logan," replied Hank mildly. "I can obtain things like this legally."  
  
"Are you gonna _use_ it legally?"  
  
"That's what I brought it here to discuss... you wanted to 'mellow her out', as I recall. That's what this is for. Now, how are we going to use it?"  
  
The pair stared speculatively at the small cannabis plant sitting on the table. Thinking.

* * *

Kurt knocked on the Kayle's door and waited. He didn't have to wait long. Vicki opened the door and hit him with a thousand-watt grin.  
  
"Kurt!" she squealed. "You're early!"  
  
"Ja," Kurt agreed. "Can... can I talk to you, bitte?"  
  
Looking confused, Vicki stepped aside to let him in. "Daddy and Simon aren't here, so I was going to lock up after you arrived..." she led him into the lounge and sat on the couch, patting the seat next to her for Kurt to sit. With a polite smile, he sat on the chair near to her. _It was going to be easier if she wasn't snuggling up against him...  
_  
"So, what's wrong?" she prompted him. "I'm assuming there _is_ something wrong..."  
  
Kurt nodded sadly. "Ja. There is." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Vicki, why did you ask me here tonight?"  
  
She looked at the carpet with an embarrassed look on her face. "I told you, it was to thank you for sticking up for Simon..."  
  
"And was that all?" Kurt asked.  
  
"Well... it's just that..."  
  
"Ja?"  
  
Vicki sighed. "Not many guys at school would be willing to be seen with me. Since they avoid Simon like the plague, being seen with me is almost as bad as being seen with him. When you arrived... you're polite to everyone, and you stuck up for Simon, and... well, you're pretty cute, too..." she looked up again. "So, I asked Simon to get you alone so I could see if you were interested, and you came here, so..."  
  
At this point, Kurt held up a hand to restrain her. "Vicki, I came because I misunderstood. I thought that what you were offering to me was friendship, nothing more. I... I cannot go along with you as you had planned. I have... somebody else... to think of."  
  
Vicki's mouth opened slightly and her eyes widened. "Really?" she asked softly.  
  
Kurt nodded mournfully. "Ja. Vicki, I am so very sorry for what I have done, but customs in this country are so very different, and I did not understand at first what you meant, and..." he trailed off when he noticed Vicki was looking at him strangely. "Vas?"  
  
Vicki stood up. "Well," she said. "May as well drop the act, then..."  
  
Kurt blinked in confusion. "Vicki, I don't..."  
  
Suddenly, 'Vicki' changed. Becoming a tall, blue-skinned woman. Who looked very, very angry with Kurt. She smirked at him.  
  
"You're pathetic," snarled Mystique, and kicked the stunned Kurt in the side of his head, sending him flying across the room. He was already twisting in the air, landing catlike on all fours, when he heard a strange 'phoot' sound. A moment later, he felt a stinging pain as a dart suddenly appeared in his shoulder.  
  
_Tranquilliser_, he thought. _Dummkopf, letting your guard down..._  
  
As the world swam before his eyes, he focused his attention on Mystique, dart gun still in her hand. "You... you..." he croaked, before collapsing on the floor.

* * *

Mystique snorted and tossed the empty gun onto the sofa. She glanced up at Sabretooth, descending the stairs, glaring at the unconscious Kurt slumped on the carpet.  
  
"I had thought," Mystique commented, "that Nightcrawler was formidiable."  
  
Sabretooth grinned. "Little bastard's thinkin' with his dick, not his head. Woulda done anything without thinkin' if ya'd asked him."  
  
Mystique shrugged. "You're most likely right. Are the humans out of the equation?"  
  
He nodded. "They ain't gonna squeal to nobody," he growled. Reaching Kurt, he slung the boy's limp form over one shoulder. "Let's get outta here. Boss wants the little bastard back at base quick as possible."  
  
Mystique nodded and followed Sabretooth to the door. Pausing at the entrance, she reached into a coat cupboard and removed a can of gasoline, which she used to soak the carpet and walls near the door. As she left, she tossed a burning cigarette lighter onto the sodden carpet, which caught alight with a _'whoomph'_ sound. They left.  
  
Soon, black smoke began to billow over the city of Bayville as the Kayle house burned slowly to the ground. By the time the fire fighters arrived, there was no way they could stop the blaze. By morning, the house would be nothing but ashes.

* * *

Back at the Institute, no-one was aware of this – least of all Amara.  
  
She spent almost two hours getting ready to go out. Seeking the assistance of every female in the mansion, she showered, cleaned her hair, carefully selected an outfit, put her hair up just right, and spent over thirty minutes on her makeup. Then, finally ready, she sat down to wait at a quarter to seven.  
  
She waited for a long time.  
  
And waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
And waited...  
  
When she finally went to bed at eleven o' clock, her tears had ruined her carefully applied mascara.  
  
Kurt had not returned. 


	7. Chapter 7

Kurt groaned as he slowly came to his senses. He was still a little groggy, but that would wear off soon enough. Opening his eyes, he looked around him. He was sprawled on the bed in a 'room' with three walls of solid metal and a fourth made of glass. Decorating the cell were the bed, hanging off one wall, and a tray of food near the door. At the sight of food, his stomach promptly began trying to leave his body and make its way over to the tray; what he saw next effectively quelled his hunger.  
  
There were people outside the glass. Watching him. One of them the blue lady he'd seen at the Kayle house. The others, he didn't recognise. One, dressed in red and purple clothing, smiled at him as he noticed Kurt waking up.  
  
"Greetings, Mr. Wagner," came a metallic voice through the speaker set above the door. "Or do you prefer Nightcrawler?"  
  
Kurt glared at him and didn't answer. Mentally he thanked God that his holowatch was still active. Eventually, the silver-haired man spoke again. "I am Magneto, and this place is my humble home. You are, for now, a guest here. You may as well speak to us... we don't want to alienate you, and if you won't give us a chance..."  
  
Kurt sat on the bed and crossed his legs. "Where am I?" he asked softly.  
  
"Asteroid M," beamed Magneto, pleased that Kurt was speaking to him. "The heart of the Brotherhood of Mutants."  
  
Kurt was unimpressed. "And is there a reason you have brought me here, mein herr? Or did you simply want a new pet and did not think you could adequately care for a hamster?"  
  
Magneto scowled at him. "You're insolent, Nightcrawler. I don't like that."  
  
"I'm in a cage. I **hate** that."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Kurt looked at him coolly. "Would _you_ like it?"  
  
Magneto shrugged. "Then perhaps you'd like to find a way out of there? Because I can easily open the door..."  
  
Kurt didn't even move. "At what price?"  
  
Mystique spoke up. "A fair price, Nightcrawler. Alliance from you and reason to believe that you can be trusted."  
  
Kurt sighed and lay down on the bed. "Then I am not likely to get out of here any time soon," he replied mildly. "Ambushing me, shooting me, and putting me in a cage... these are not particularly effective ways of earning my allegiance."  
  
"And if we had not, would you have even considered our offer?" countered Magneto.  
  
"Perhaps." Kurt rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "So... if you are so eager to gain my trust, you must have a special interest in me... why?"  
  
"You know the answer to that," Magneto answered.  
  
"Remind me."  
  
Magneto bit back an exasperated sigh. "Your... talents... are extremely useful to you. And, by proxy, anyone with whom you lend those talents. Therefore, you are an extremely useful individual to your allies – and potentially lethal to your enemies."  
  
"I don't kill people."  
  
Mystique blinked. "But what about the agents from -" she said without thinking.  
  
"Mystique!" Magneto cut her off furiously. "That is enough!"  
  
"Too late," called Kurt from inside the cell. "Now, mein herr, how do you plan to earn my trust after taking me prisoner and letting slip that you have connections within Genetex?"  
  
"We have no such connections," corrected Magneto. "Those files were stolen. What was in them, however, was interesting information... for example, I was not aware that you had a shapeshifting ability..."  
  
Kurt frowned. "Vas?"  
  
"Your files, and the information provided by the other members of the Brotherhood, have you listed as looking markedly different from how you do at the moment. Care to explain?"  
  
Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I wear a mask, mein herr. That is something you cannot offer me, and yet another reason for not joining mit your goals."  
  
Magneto narrowed his eyes. "Take the mask off," he ordered.  
  
"Nein."  
  
"Do it, or Sabretooth will remove it for you," he grated.  
  
Kurt glanced at Sabretooth and shrugged. "Well now... at least your threats are not empty..." removing his watch, he stood to allow his tail to wriggle free behind him. "... but you are still not making me a friend."  
  
Magneto waved a dismissive hand. "That will come later. For now, I would like you to meet someone – someone who can not only identify with you, but perhaps give you a reason to join us after all..." he turned to Mystique. "Fetch Megabyte," he ordered.  
  
Mystique didn't move. She was staring transfixed at Kurt, unblinking.  
  
"MYSTIQUE!"  
  
She started, then looked at Magneto. "Yes... ah, Megabyte. Yes, of course." She left, and Magneto shook his head in confusion. He turned to Sabretooth.  
  
"What was that about?"  
  
In his cell, Kurt echoed those same sentiments inside his own head.  
  
_What had been so startling for her?_

* * *

The next morning at the Institute, by chance a Saturday, began unlike many others, in that Kurt was not up immediately after dawn and irritating those he came into contact with. No-one thought anything of it, however; the males of the Institute were simply glad of a sleep-in, and Kurt was so deep into disgrace with the women that they weren't surprised in the least that he seemed to be avoiding them. This state of no-one caring where Kurt had gotten to lasted well into morning.  
  
At around eleven, Logan finally gave up.  
  
"Alright, where'd the elf go?" he asked the general assembly of mutants crowding the living room. "Usually he's up at dawn, and this is just gettin' ridiculous..."  
  
Kitty snorted. "If that little blue _moron_ shows his stupid little face around here for the next week, I promise you're, like, gonna know about it from his screaming..."  
  
Scott winced. "I'm guessing he did something wrong?"  
  
Amara sniffed. "I don't want to talk about it..."  
  
Jamie piped up from the sofa. "He was gonna take Amara to see a movie at seven last night, but when he wasn't back by eleven she went to bed. Now the girls are gonna kill him if they see him again." Everyone stared at him, silent. "What? It's not my fault if people forget I'm in the room when they talk..."  
  
Hank shook his head. "Actually, Jamie, I was startled by your claim that Kurt had not returned by eleven o' clock last night. The operative question being raised that if he did not return by then, when did he return?"  
  
Ororo spoke up. "In fact, has anyone seen Kurt at all since yesterday?"  
  
When no-one answered, Charles gave an uneasy frown. "Bobby, would you check his room please?" As Bobby left, he spoke to the others. "Now, since I have been unable to locate him via telepathy, and it's rather out of character for him to stay hidden totally... is anyone willing to tell me what's going on?"  
  
Rogue and Kitty looked embarrassed. "Well, um..." Kitty began.  
  
Rogue cut in. "It's... kinda private, Professor. Kurt ain't exactly eager for people to know where he was last night..."  
  
Logan grunted. "We ain't lookin' for excuses. Where's the elf?"  
  
Evan sighed. "Okay... he went out with a girl from school. Vicki Kayle."  
  
Over the table, Amara made a choking sound. Jean was about to ask if she was okay when the Nova Roman ran from the room. Jean sighed.  
  
"I'd better see if she's okay," she decided aloud and rose from her seat and left the room, and the conversation, behind her. She was walking down the corridor when the phone rang nearby. Stopping, she answered.  
  
"Hello? Jean Grey speaking..."  
  
The voice on the other end was shaky. "I don't have much time, so listen."  
  
Jean blinked. "Who is this?"  
  
"Shut up. All you need to know is that Kurt has been taken by Magneto. The Kayle family is dead, and Kurt is a hostage on Asteroid M. When you arrive, I'll be gone. You have to help him."  
  
Jean was stunned. "Hey, hang on, who are -" the caller hung up. Jean looked at the phone for a moment, then replaced the receiver. Then she sprinted for the living room to tell the others.

* * *

On Asteroid M, Mystique rose from the chair she'd been sitting in as she spoke to Jean. She was still in shock from seeing Kurt – her son was supposed to be dead. She'd seen him get washed over the waterfall, she'd searched the area for him but hadn't found him... this was impossible.  
_Yet it had happened.  
_  
Mystique rose to unsteady feet and headed for one of the exits fromAsteroid M. She'd done all she could do.  
_Now she had to get out before Magneto discovered what she'd done..._


	8. Chapter 8

The Blackbird shot out of the hangar perhaps half an hour later. Once the others had convinced Amara to come out of her room and explained the situation, plans had been set in motion. By general consensus of the adults, it had been agreed that Mystique was the one who'd made the phone call, for some reason alerting the X-Men of their friend's plight...

* * *

"Why would she tell us?" Scott had argued. "It's gotta be a trap of some sort..."  
  
"Almost certainly," Charles had agreed. "If the Brotherhood has taken Kurt, and he is still alive, then they are most likely using him as bait to capture the rest of us. However, we can't very well leave him there."  
  
"How do we even know he's there?" Logan wanted to know.  
  
"We only just found out Kurt's missing. That means that Mystique knew before we did. And therefore, had to have something to do with it. Satisfied?"  
  
The answer, of course, had been a resounding NO. However, Evan had fortunately chosen that exact moment to turn on the radio.  
  
"..._and in other news, a house fire in central Bayville has left one building gutted by flames and an entire block with smoke damage. The house, belonging to one Mr. Andrew Kayle, and his children Simon and Vicki, was not able to be saved by firefighters, and the family was apparently unable to escape the blaze in time. Police refused to comment on suspected arson, but our reports show_..."  
  
Evan had switched the radio off with one shaky hand. Scott stood.  
  
"Suit up. We're going."

* * *

Now, as the jet soared away toward the midday sun, the occupants were more than a little tense. Despite all arguments, the new mutants had been instructed to remain at the Institute, so as not to leave the building completely unguarded. Charles and Ororo also remained, keeping watch over the others. Scott, Evan, Kitty, Rogue, Jean, Logan and Hank were on board the Blackbird, headed for Asteroid M.  
  
Or, so the planning had gone.  
  
Now, Logan unbuckled his seatbelt and rose, sniffing the air. Hank glanced up.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Somethin' ain't right," Logan growled, stalking slowly toward the back of the plane.  
  
Hank shook his head and resumed his brooding with a muttered, "Here we go..."  
  
Logan ignored him and continued down the aisle, eventually reaching a large storage cabinet. He stopped and cursed.  
  
"For Christ's sake, we told 'em..."  
  
He yanked the door open. Inside the cabinet, Jamie and Amara blinked at him like startled owls. Jamie offered a crooked smile.  
  
"Um... hi?"  
  
Logan stepped back. "Out. Now."  
  
As the younger students trooped out of the cabinet and sat, Scott glanced back from the controls of the jet and did a double take.  
  
"What in the hell are they doing here?"  
  
Amara sniffed. "We are going to assist you in helping Kurt," she announced.  
  
Rogue tried not to laugh at Scott's expression. "Really?"  
  
Jamie shrugged. "Why not? We want to help, and we've gotta be worth something..."  
  
Hank was doing his best to sound stern while Logan stared, speechless, at the two students. "And you are so eager to help because...?"  
  
Jamie frowned. "He's cool. He's Kurt. I want to help you help him." He blinked. "Umm... help you with helping... wait, help..."  
  
Evan shook his head. "Jamie. Shut. Up. We get it."  
  
Kitty looked at Amara. "And do we, like, even need to ask why you want to help?"  
  
Amara raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm certain you're all more than capable of rescuing Kurt by yourselves. It's simply that this... Magneto character... he irritates me."  
  
"Irritates," Jean said flatly.  
  
"I had plans for last night. Magneto disrupted them. No-one disrupts the plans of a Nova Roman of royal blood and gets away with it."  
  
Logan blinked for the first time since letting the pair out of the cabinet, then walked back to his seat and sat down. For the first time in his life, he felt a pang of sympathy for one Erik Lensherr, aka Magneto.  
  
_He'd pissed off the wrong princess..._

* * *

Magneto and Sabretooth watched the console with marked interest. Although the Blackbird was invisible to radar, it was metallic, and therefore could be sensed by Magneto's power. By use of a few handy satellites, he was easily able to track their progress. Next to him, Sabretooth frowned.  
  
"You sure this is gonna work?" he asked gruffly.  
  
Magneto nodded, his eyes not leaving the screen. "Have I told you of Megabyte's capabilities yet, Sabretooth?" The larger man shook his head, and Magneto continued. "Megabyte is to electricity and electrical energy what I am to magnetism. He is capable of generating incredible amounts of electrical energy, and also capable of controlling any system activated by electrical energy."  
  
Sabretooth was unimpressed. "What does that mean?"  
  
Magneto smiled faintly. "It means that he can control anything electrical. He can distort radio waves, he can turn appliances on and off by merely thinking about it, and he can overwhelm any computer system in existence by focusing his attention on it. He's capable of extending his awareness over huge areas – anywhere in this country, in fact – and if faced by an opponent in face-to-face combat, he can charge them with up to eighty thousand volts of energy without even trying."  
  
Sabretooth grunted. "Okay. So what's he gonna do here?"  
  
Magneto merely smiled. "Watch and see..."

* * *

As the Blackbird neared Asteroid M, the X-Men were preparing to enter Magneto's stronghold. Scott switched on the radio and spoke into it.  
  
"Professor? We're nearly there. No signs of life so far."  
  
"_Very well, Scott_," came the professor's voice in reply. "_Just keep your guard up. Good luck_."  
  
Scott nodded and switched the radio off, banking the jet slowly toward the Asteroid.  
  
Then the radio turned on again. Scott frowned and turned it off.  
  
And it turned back on again.  
  
Scott thumped the console. "Damn radio's broken," he informed Logan. "We'd better watch it, I don't know if we can contact the professor now." Logan nodded and was about to reply when the radio broke out in a harsh burst of static. Slowly, the static cleared, being replaced with an eerie silence.  
  
Which was suddenly broken.  
  
"_Satan salve, moritorium es_!" boomed a metallic voice over the radio.  
  
Evan blinked. "What?"  
  
Amara sat up higher in her seat. "It's Latin," she said, confused. "It means, 'the adversary greets you, you who are about to die'." She looked at the others. "Who would..."  
  
All of a sudden, their stomachs lurched as the jet swung violently to the right.  
  
"Scooter!" yelled Logan. "What the hell are you doing?"  
  
"It's not me!" Scott shouted. "Look!"  
  
Lights were flickering on the console as various switches turned on and off. Moving of its own accord, the control stick turned the plane rapidly to the right.  
  
The jet was not under their control.  
  
Scott was dimly aware of Kitty screaming as the Blackbird went into a dizzying spin. 


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry about the delay, folks. The Demon that is Real Life (bane of authors everywhere) has been savagely pinning me down and piling heavy weights on top of me. But I'm back! Yay!  
Readers, you are good people. Reviewers, you are fantastic people and I love you. I'd marry you all if it were legal and not so weird. As it is, we can just keep a platonic relationship, okay?  
On with the ficcery!

* * *

As the plane began to turn toward Asteroid M, Scott grabbed the controls and fought with them, trying to regain control over the jet. However, he'd not been struggling long before the loudspeaker crackled again.  
  
"Behave yourself, Mr. Summers."  
  
A sudden fork of static electricity arced out from the console and struck Scott in the chest, stunning him and knocking him back from the controls. Behind him, the others watched open-mouthed as their invisible adversary set the Blackbird on a collision course with the hard, stony ground of Asteroid M.  
  
Everyone else, that is, except for Hank.  
  
_Electricity_, he thought. _Whoever this is, he affects electricity... therefore he can control the jet... but if it were shorted out...  
_  
He shot to his feet and, fighting the effects of gravity that threatened to throw him off balance, made his way over to the screaming Kitty. He pulled her out of her seat and carried her bodily toward the console.  
  
"Katherine!" he shouted. "Phase! You must short out the controls!" Kitty stared uncomprehendingly at him. Hank pushed her forwards. "Whoever's doing this is using the Blackbird's computer to control it! You have to deactivate it!"  
  
As Kitty's brain kicked into gear, she spun around and stepped into the console. Instantly, the Blackbird's lights went out as the computers stopped working. Seizing the controls, Logan began to fight the Blackbird's descent.  
  
"Jeannie!" he yelled. "Ya got anything ya think can help, now's a good time!"  
  
Whilst the on-board computer was deactivated, the control stick was still able to move the rudders on the Blackbird's wings. As Jean lended her powers to Logan's efforts, the plane slowly straightened out and turned towards an empty area that would – just – serve as a landing strip. Another push from Jean opened up the landing gear seconds before the plane reached ground level.  
  
Hank grabbed Kitty under one arm and braced himself against the seats. "Hold on to something!" he shouted to the others. "This is going to become rough!"  
  
This was a firm contender for the understatement of the year. When the wheels of the Blackbird hit the ground, there was a deafening screech of metal and the sparks flew up on either side. While the mutants inside clutched at whatever they could hold onto and tried desperately not to scream, loose items flew around inside – medical kits, body armour, radios, all of the useless little items that you find on any plane that's used regularly – and crashed into them. Jean screamed aloud from the effort of keeping the Jet from smashing into any buildings or rocks, but managed it; although it seemed like an eternity, it was only a few short minutes after the Blackbird had spun out of control that it came to a stop. Slowly, the X- Men looked out from under protective arms and rose to shaky feet. Jamie, who hadn't fastened his seatbelt, groaned from one corner of the Jet. That is, roughly a dozen of him groaned.  
  
"Are we there yet?" asked one.  
  
"I think so," answered another.  
  
With a groan of relief, the all stopped moving, and suddenly vanished, leaving one Jamie sitting on the floor rubbing his head. "Let's not do that again," he suggested.  
  
Rogue walked over and helped him to his feet. "Ya got a deal, squirt," she agreed.  
  
Grouping together, the X-Men slowly disembarked the Blackbird and made their way toward the facilities. Whilst they didn't yet know who had attacked them during their approach, they knew one thing; until that individual had been dealt with, there was no way they could leave Asteroid M.  
  
Now, it was all or nothing.

* * *

Inside the facility, Sabretooth's face contorted with renewed fury. "They're still alive," he snarled. "First, ya send me an' Mystique on some bullshit job to catch a rat. Then Mystique pisses off to Christ knows where. Then you put everything down to this Meggie-Bite bastard – and he screws it up." He glared venomously at Magneto. "What the hell're ya doin'?"  
  
Magneto frowned. "Contain yourself, Sabretooth. Admittedly, Mystique's disappearance is both unexpected and concerning. However, the rest of your statements need correction: you were sent to capture Nightcrawler in order to use him as bait to catch the rest of the X-Men, and through their defeat to gain ourselves a powerful ally. And secondly, Megabyte did not fail. The X-Men are demoralised, fearful, and being extremely cautious of their actions – making an ambush simple enough..." he turned to the rest of the assembled Brotherhood. "You know what to do. If you do it right, then the X- Men will not stand a chance..."

* * *

Kurt was lying on the bed, counting the cracks in the ceiling of his cell. He'd finished eating the contents of his food tray, and none of his captors were guarding him. Not that he needed guarding; he'd spent a good couple of hours exhausting all potential escape routes, and he was very well contained. It was just that without guards he was unable to engage in banter with anyone.  
  
He was bored. Being a prisoner was far less interesting than he remembered.  
  
_Funny, the way your mind plays tricks on you..._ he thought.  
  
An electronic whirring signified the door opening, and he glanced over to see who was coming into his little prison. His eyes widened, and he didn't say anything for a while after the door had eventually whirred shut.  
  
Finally Scott spoke. "Well? Aren't you going to say hi?"  
  
Kurt leaped to his feet and leaned against the glass wall. "I'll say hello once I'm out of here," he retorted.  
  
"Like, no problem," Kitty announced, and phased through the glass, grabbed Kurt, and headed back the way she'd come.  
  
THUD  
  
Kurt raised an eyebrow as Kitty rubbed her sore forehead. "You're a smart one, aren't you?" he asked her. Kitty glowered as Logan chuckled at them.  
  
"Half-pint, the elf's a teleporter. If ya could use powers in that cell o' his, d' ya think he'd still be there?"  
  
Rogue and Evan looked at each other and shook their heads. "Unbelievable," was Evan's comment. The others just grinned at the sight. Eventually, Kurt looked back out his window at the others.  
  
"As funny as this is..." he said, "...would it be alright if we tried to get out of here now? Herr Magneto has a new pet, and I do not wish to be caught off-guard once more..."  
  
Logan grunted. "Hold on a sec," he answered as he unsheathed his claws and moved toward the glass wall. "So, who's Maggie's new pet?" he asked.  
  
"He calls himself Megabyte," Kurt replied nervously, "but we already know him, and he's not going to be happy to see any of you."  
  
Jean raised an eyebrow. "So who is he?" she asked.  
  
Kurt opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a familiar whirring sound. "Sheisse!" he screamed. "Hurry up! He's here!"  
  
Those who remained outside the cell, which Logan had not yet penetrated, spun to see the new arrivals. At the door, the entire Brotherhood (sans Mystique) stared back at them. At their head, next to Magneto himself, stood the mysterious Megabyte.  
  
"_Salve, Moritorium es_!" he called to the astonished crowd.  
  
Amara's eyes widened as she took a step back. "That... that's impossible," she gasped at Megabyte.  
  
Alive and well, Simon Kayle grinned back at her.

* * *

Kurt glared at Simon from inside his cell. "_Salve_, and _osci assinus meum_, Simon," he spat.  
  
Simon stopped for a moment, blinked, then burst out laughing. "Oh, very clever, Kurt," he congratulated. "Except that _assinum_ refers to ass as a beast of burden, not a bodily part." He smiled benignly at Kurt. "You just told me to kiss your donkey."  
  
Scott cut in. "Um... don't take this the wrong way or anything... but aren't you supposed to be dead?"  
  
Simon shook his head, finishing up his laughter. "Nope. Oh, sure the house burned down... sadly, Vicki and Dad didn't make it out... but I'm fine."  
  
Jean's jaw dropped. "You know they're dead?"  
  
"Sure I do. Been looking forward to it for a while, now. They've had it coming to them."  
  
Rogue shook her head in disbelief. "You're fucking nuts."  
  
"Ja," agreed Kurt. "That's what I said."  
  
Simon's face contorted with fury. He ignored Kurt and screamed at Rogue. "Nuts? Nuts was when I put up with all that shit from people who aren't worth the dirt I walk on! Nuts was letting those assholes at school beat up on me when I could have killed them all with a thought!" His breathing was ragged as he paused in his tirade. "I'm not nuts anymore. For the first time, I'm thinking straight. I'm not going to let anyone push me around ever again."  
  
Evan shook his head. "And once again... you, pal, are fucking **nuts**."  
  
"Ja, that's what I said."  
  
Simon smirked. "Wanna know what I said?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer, just raised one hand. A steady stream of static energy shot from his raised palm and struck Evan in the chest. Evan screamed in agony as the blast threw him against one wall, and dropped into a heap when the stream stopped, smoke rising from his burned chest.  
  
Kitty swallowed her nausea. "You're a murderer," she snapped at Simon. "You killed your family, even though they, like, cared about you; now you're trying to kill us, too? You _are_ crazy."  
  
Simon lowered his hand. "They didn't care about me," he retorted. "Vick was nice enough to me in public, but... well, if you weren't an only child, you'd understand. She could be a bitch when she wanted. And Dad... well, he hasn't cared about me since Mom died. I was just... there. He never even noticed me." He smirked. "Guess he noticed when Sabie passed on a message from me..."  
  
Behind him, Sabretooth grinned, though he never dropped his gaze from Logan's face. Magneto stepped forwards. "Enough," he announced. "My _dear_ X- Men, although I would simply _love_ to kill you all now, I don't have the time. Therefore, we'll put you on storage until we have time to deal with you." At a gesture from him, the metal door of the cell slid open. "Get in. Now."  
  
The X-Men glared pure venom at him, but faced with no choice entered the cell, Hank half-carrying Evan on one arm. Magneto smiled coldly. "Good," was all he said. Turning, he walked through the assembled Brotherhood out of the room. Todd looked nervous.  
  
"So we just leave 'em here, yo?"  
  
"That is correct, Toad," Magneto called over his shoulder. "They won't be getting out anytime soon. Now, come; I need all of you to witness this..."  
  
They left the room, and the newly arrived prisoners looked around. Kurt walked back to the bed and sat.  
  
"So..." he said to the others. here often?"  
  
Hank deposited the still-groggy Evan next to him. "Only to find you," he retorted.  
  
"Oh, so this was a rescue attempt, Ja?"  
  
Scott raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"  
  
"No offence? But you kind of suck at rescuing people..." Kurt waved one hand, taking in their surroundings and current situation. "And now, who will rescue you?"

* * *

As the Brotherhood took positions around the room, Magneto turned toward them.  
  
"Congratulations," he said gravely. "We have just captured the majority of the X-Men without a single one of us being harmed – and the others will be easy prey for us without their friends..." activating a nearby computer console, an image of the Xavier Institute flickered into view on a large screen. Magneto glanced at Simon. "You know what to do." With a grin, Simon rose to his feet and left the room.  
  
After he'd left, Tabitha shuddered. "That guy creeps me out," she commented. "He might be on our side and everything, but Blue-boy and his pals were right. He's out of his fucking gourd."  
  
Magneto smiled mirthlessly. "Perhaps. But his power is not to be underestimated. Without his influence, it's unlikely that we'd have succeeded thus far. And if Nightcrawler were to escape the cell, Megabyte is probably the only one here, excluding myself, who would stand a chance against him. And this next part... that's all dependent on Megabyte's capabilities..."  
  
Lance and Fred looked at each other and shrugged. "What's the next part, then?" Fred asked. Magneto simply pointed to the screen, which suddenly changed to a view inside the Institute itself, taken from the Institute's security cameras. "Watch..."

* * *

At the mansion, none of the remaining X-Men were aware of their friend's plight. Currently, Charles and Rahne watched from the observation deck as Ororo led Bobby and Jubilee through a training simulation in the Danger Room. They were nearing the end of the sim, and therefore running low on steam. Ororo glanced up at the observation deck and gave a tired wave, which was answered by Rahne. Charles merely smiled.  
  
Then every light in the room went out. The sudden darkness startled them all, and for a moment silence prevailed. When the lights came back on, it took Charles a moment to work out what had changed. Then he saw it.  
  
_The training sim had reset_.  
  
Not only that, it had reset itself onto another program; one that was faster, tougher, and infinitely more dangerous than the previous one. However, it wasn't yet active.  
  
"Rahne!" Charles barked. "Shut off the console! Do it now!"  
  
Rahne nodded and ran over to the controls, flicking switches and pressing buttons as she tried to shut the program down.  
  
And, seconds later, was hurled across the room by a powerful blast of electricity that arced out of the console itself. Charles, too shocked and stunned to speak, simply watched in mute horror.  
  
This silence was broken by a burst of static from the Danger Room's loudspeaker system, and a voice none of them had heard before.  
  
"_Satan salve, moritorium es_!"  
  
As the computer generated opponents on the floor below began to move, Charles suddenly felt himself lurch forwards as his chair, no longer under his control, began to move toward the elevator. 


	10. Chapter 10

The blast of static energy had knocked Rahne Sinclair unconscious. She was, in effect, dead to the world, and therefore not a threat to Megabyte's plans or of potential assistance to any of his victims.  
  
At least, that accounted for the human part of her...  
  
Seconds after she had been hurled across the room, her body had reverted to its wolf-form, and she now staggered to her (four) feet.  
  
_Hunter. Bad hunter, after friends, pack members. Have to stop hunter. Friends down below, one leaving_.  
  
Sniffing the console, she whined in memory of pain.  
  
_Can't help friends below. Hunter makes lights, lights bring pain. No no no. Can't help. Help one leaving, maybe can help him._  
  
Rahne bounded after the professor, and had almost reached him when he entered he elevator. The doors slammed shut in her face. She scrabbled at the door to no avail; they would not open. Stepping back, she looked at the display of lights above the elevator doors.  
  
_Going down..._  
  
Running a short distance down the hall, she reached a door marked 'stairs'. By seizing the handle in her teeth and pulling it down with her weight, she was eventually able to open it. Bursting into the stairwell, she began running down the flights of stairs. What little consciousness of her human self remained was frantically praying that, somehow, she could reach the professor in time.

* * *

Below, on the floor of the Danger Room, things were looking grim. Ororo, Bobby and Jubilee were already worn out from their previous training session; now, they recognised the sim currently running as the most dangerous available from the computer's files. Even Logan rarely used this sim, and he only ever used it because his healing factor meant that the opponents couldn't actually kill him. No-one in the danger room at that moment had a healing factor, however - meaning that the odds of their survival were getting rather slim.  
  
"Ms. Monroe?" asked Bobby nervously. The trio had put their backs to one another as the opponents circled them, and now they could hear each other clearly. "What's going on?"  
  
"I don't know," came the equally nervous reply. "This has never happened before to my knowledge..."  
  
"You think it's a prank or something?" Jubilee asked, glaring at one of the Danger Room robots as it moved along in front of her.  
  
"With only the Professor and Rahne running this thing?" Bobby snorted. "Even if either of those two ever managed to pull off a prank, they'd make it less dangerous than this..."  
  
"So, what are we gonna do?"  
  
"The only thing we can do," Ororo answered determinedly. "Try and survive..."  
  
Bobby groaned. "Why do I get the feeling that that's a whole lot more difficult than you make it sound?"  
  
As it turned out, Ororo never answered Bobby's question. Because at that moment, the sim opponents launched their first attack.

* * *

Up on Asteroid M, Logan was patrolling the barriers of their collective prison, testing for weaknesses in the construction.  
  
"You're wasting your time, Herr Logan," called Kurt from over on the bed. "There is not an escape route available from here."  
  
"Can't hurt to look, elf," Logan replied as he began to inspect the door.  
  
"Ah, actually, it can...'  
  
**ZAP**  
  
As Logan blinked up from the floor, wondering what had happened, Kurt shrugged. "The door has an electric charge running through it," he explained. "Sorry I was late in telling you."  
  
Scott sighed and walked over to the glass panel. "If you're quite finished?" he asked.  
  
Rogue snorted. "An' what're you gunna do, sunshine?" she asked.  
  
"Get us out of here," Scott answered mildly.  
  
"Oh yeah? And, like, how are you gonna do that?" Kitty scoffed.  
  
Scott didn't answer, just removed a small device from his belt and began fiddling with it.  
  
"What's that?" Jamie asked, curious.  
  
"A miniature sonar jammer. We've got one on the Blackbird, it's what makes us invisible to radar."  
  
Amara snorted. "And how will that help us?" she asked scornfully.  
  
"Well..." Scott answered, raising the sonar jammer to eye level and opening his visor. "Did you know that power dampers operate on radio waves?"  
  
He flicked the switch.  
  
Instantly, a blast of kinetic energy fired from his eyes, reducing the glass barrier to so many slivers of silicone. Scott closed his visor and returned the sonar jammer to his belt, then stepped through the gap. He looked back at the others.  
  
"You coming?"  
  
Evan blinked. "Dude..." he said slowly, "I am _impressed_."  
  
Logan stepped outside the cell and clapped a hand onto Scott's back. "Knew that Chuck put ya in charge for a reason, Scooterboy."  
  
Scott grinned. "Yeah, yeah. Quit crying on me. Now come on, we've got work to do..."  
  
Moments later, the prison was empty, and the X-Men were once again moving throughout Asteroid M.

* * *

The elevator doors slid open at the lowest sub-basement in the labyrinth of levels below the Institute. As Charles' wheelchair moved into the corridor, he was unhurriedly picking at the small metallic panel covering the wiring. It came off easily enough; however, as he began to reach for the wires, the speakers in the corridor crackled to life.  
  
"_I wouldn't do that if I were you, Professor Xavier. You'd be well served to remember how I dealt with Wolfsbane earlier. I'd not like to have to do the same to you..."_  
  
A small spark of electricity spat from the exposed wiring, and Charles wisely stopped fiddling with it. Instead, he looked around carefully. "You can see me?" he asked.  
  
"_And hear you_," acknowledged his as-yet unknown enemy. "_Your surveillance systems are quite sufficient for my needs. I can see and hear anything that goes on in almost any area of your Institute_."  
  
"So..." Charles swallowed nervously as the chair continued on its way. "Where are you taking me?"  
  
"_Cerebro's Chamber_."  
  
"Why?"  
  
A sinister-sounding chuckle. "_You're going to die, Professor Xavier. It's amusingly ironic that you should meet your end in such a circumstance_."  
  
Charles' jaw set in defiance. "You're quite sure of yourself, my friend. Still... might I know the name of my would-be killer?"  
  
"_I am Megabyte. And you are the one who is needlessly self-confident, Professor Xavier. I am more powerful than you could comprehend_."  
  
At the end of the corridor, the door to Cerebro's chamber opened soundlessly, the enormous egg-shaped room dark and featureless. Charles didn't let it show, but he had hopes – Cerebro was the one thing that might give him a chance to locate and, therefore, combat this mysterious Megabyte. Then he was distracted by a sound behind him. Twisting around in his chair, he saw a door behind him burst open as a red wolf leaped into the corridor.  
  
Rahne.  
  
"_Your students are persistent, Professor, I'll give you that_."  
  
As Rahne raced toward the Professor, and the Professor continued toward Cerebro's chamber, the lights in the corridor began to flicker. Suddenly, the globes exploded, and showers of sparks and bolts of electricity rained down on the hallway, narrowly missing Rahne, who ran on heedless. Charles reached the door, which began to slide shut behind him – an instant later, Rahne leaped through the remaining gap and landed on the walkway next to him. She looked up at him, and Charles heard her voice in his head.  
  
_Do what ye know ye have tae do, Professor. I'll keep this daftie occupied as long as I can_.  
  
Running up, she seized one shoe in her teeth and pulled Charles from his chair onto the walkway, then tensed herself for a leap.  
  
"Thank you," Charles whispered to her.  
  
Rahne's jump connected solidly with the chair, knocking both it and her off the walkway and into the curved walls of the room, where they slid to the bottom. Above, Charles dragged himself to Cerebro's console and activated the system. For a moment, he felt the system begin to rebel against him, but with a push of his mind, he regained control.  
  
"_What are you doing_?" Megabyte demanded. "_Why can't I stop you from using that_?"  
  
"It's a mentally aware system, Megabyte," Charles answered aloud. "Only a telepath can use it – and when in control of Cerebro's system, I would say that I have become more than a match for you..."  
  
"_So you say_," came the snarled response. "_But can you show your superiority in time to help your friends_...?"

* * *

Below, at the bottom of Cerebro's egg-shaped chamber, Rahne was lying on her side, panting heavily. Besides having used almost all her energy in reaching Charles and forcing his wheelchair over the edge of the walkway, she'd sustained a nasty knock to the head during her fall – and, of course, being electrocuted before hadn't left her completely unharmed. Now, she was almost totally worn out, and as such couldn't run or jump with her usual agility.  
  
Unfortunately for her.  
  
Her sensitive hearing picked up a whirring sound; clambering to her feet, she bounded to one side as Charles' wheelchair rolled over the place she'd just been lying, missing her by no more than a foot. Having failed to connect, the chair drove a short distance up the curved wall of the chamber, turned, and headed toward her for another pass.  
  
_Oh, aye, this is nae good at all..._

* * *

In the Danger Room, Bobby stepped back from freezing one of the robots to the floor. The opponents were, all of a sudden, getting more vicious; before, it had been as though they were playing with them. Now, the attacks were steady, relentless.  
  
"Guys?" he panted. "I don't know if I can handle much more of this..."  
  
Ororo shook her head. "Keep going, Bobby... if one of us goes down, the other two will probably be next. We can't give up."  
  
Jubilee pushed her hair out of her eyes and paffed a group of dinosaur-like opponents, knocking them back. "Why do you think these guys got so serious all of a sudden?" she gasped.  
  
Bobby shrugged. "At a guess? I'd say that whoever's doing this suddenly got real pissed off for some reason..."  
  
The next wave of attackers moved in, effectively ending the conversation. Now they were just focused on staying alive. 


	11. Chapter 11

With Logan tracking ahead of them, the others made their way through the compounds of Asteroid M quickly and without incident. At last, they reached a large metal door, where Logan stopped. "They're in here," he said simply.  
  
"All of them?" Scott asked.  
  
"Couldn't pick up Mystique's scent, but if what we heard was right, she ain't a threat to us now," he answered. "So, we gonna do this or what?"  
  
"Ja," replied Kurt, stepping up to the door. "I call dibs on Herr Magneto, as well. No-one gets to put me in a cage and walk away from it."  
  
Rogue raised an eyebrow at that and glanced at Amara. "Is anyone else gettin' a little déjà vu here?"  
  
"Be quiet," Amara snapped. Scott rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.  
  
"Enough!" he said, exasperated. "Look, we've got an advantage in numbers here, and they think we're still locked up, so we've got surprise on our side too. Rogue, Kitty, you take care of Simon – we'll deal with the others. Everyone think they understand what they have to do?" A general chorus of assent greeted his question and he grinned mirthlessly. "Then let's do this..."

* * *

The collective members of the Brotherhood snapped their heads around as the metal door smashed in with a dull screech of twisting metal. Even Magneto was stunned into silence as their would-be prisoners entered the room and took positions against them.  
  
"Forget something?" Scott called.  
  
Evan shook his head. "Dude, that's the best line you can come up with?"  
  
"It's kind of short notice..."  
  
Jean cut in firmly. "Could we possibly do this later, guys?"  
  
Magneto scowled furiously. "You are too late, X-Men," he shouted. "Your friends are already dead!"  
  
Kurt growled at him. "Even if we believed that, mein Herr... then it would mean that we have nothing left to lose, would it not?"  
  
Evan nudged Scott with an elbow. "Now that's more like it." Scott blinked at him, then looked back at the Brotherhood.  
  
The Brotherhood glared back.  
  
And suddenly the room, which was the size of a small concert hall, exploded into violence.

* * *

Amara was the first to single out an opponent for herself; sprinting forwards, she launched a fireball that exploded at Wanda's feet. Wanda gasped as the flames burned her, then narrowed her eyes in response to the not-so-subtle challenge. She sprinted forwards, launched herself at Amara, and the pair spun off to one side, struggling wildly.  
  
Evan's eyes locked onto those of Pietro as he stepped calmly up against one wall and sprouted a few defensive spines. He waited, but not for long – a few moments later, the speed demon appeared next to him with a trademark sneer on his face.  
"Daniels."  
"Maximoff."  
And the punches started flying.  
  
Likewise, Logan never had any doubts as to who he'd be fighting. Without a pause, he ran straight toward Sabretooth, both sets of claws bared. There were no pleasantries, no formal challenges, nothing – just a heavy impact of flesh on flesh, followed by the sound of that same flesh being ripped open by claws of bone or metal.  
  
Fred charged toward the assembled X-Men within a few moments of the others beginning their battles. He made it halfway across the room, both arms raised, before he was stopped. He was momentarily stunned – not from the force of the blow, but rather because he'd never felt his strength matched before. Breaking free, he turned to his opponent.  
"You, Master Dukes, need a lesson in manners," Hank informed the enormous teenager.  
"An' you, old man, need ta mind yer own fuckin' business," Fred rumbled. Seizing each other by the shoulders and breaking out in wordless grunts, they began to grapple with one another for control.  
  
Scott stepped forward as his team picked off an opponent one by one.  
"Alvers!" he shouted. "Get over here!"  
Lance glared at him. "My pleasure..." The floor suddenly rippled, throwing Scott to his knees without warning. Lance advanced at his seemingly vulnerable enemy.  
Mistake.  
A blast of red-hot optic energy struck Lance in the chest, knocking him back onto the ground himself. With a growl, he clambered back up, regaining his feet at the same time as Scott. Glaring at one another, they moved in against one another.  
  
Tabitha stared down Jean with a grin on her face. "What's up, red?" she called cheerfully. "Wanna have a crack?"  
Jean grinned back uncharacteristically. "Don't mind if I do..." Abruptly, she lifted off the floor and shot through the air toward Tabitha. Tabitha gaped at the sight, then ducked out of the way as Jean landed nearby, then dove forwards, crash-tackling the redhead. The two went down in a tangle of thrashing limbs.  
  
Todd, for all his ungainliness, was usually one of the first ones to leap into the fray when a fight broke out – he'd discovered that his mutation actually made it possible to win a fight once in a while, substantially increasing his enthusiasm for violence. In this case, he'd hesitated, leaving only Kurt or Jamie as potential opponents. However, even he had personal limits, and one of them was taking on people – like Kurt – who he knew would be able to take him out easily.  
"Only one left, yo," he muttered. Tensing his legs, he jumped long and high, landing easily next to Jamie. "Sorry, kid," he sneered, and grabbed Jamie's collar in one hand. He pulled the younger boy in close, then kicked him; Jamie flew across the room and thudded painfully into the wall, his resulting loss of consciousness meaning that no multiples appeared.  
Todd stretched. "That were easy," he yawned.  
"No," corrected a voice behind him. "That was rude." Todd spun around to see a further trio of Jamies glaring at him. He raised an eyebrow.  
"Here we go, yo?"  
  
Kurt waited patiently until all the others were involved in their own little battles, ensuring that no-one was going to get in the way. Then he called out to Magneto, standing alone on the other side of the room.  
"You will remember, Herr Magneto, that I object to the killing of others?"  
"I remember, Nightcrawler," came the stoic reply.  
Kurt grinned coldly. "When I am finished here, I will take a great pleasure in making you the exception to that rule, Mein Herr."  
Magneto never did reply to that sentence – before he'd even had a chance to use his powers, Kurt had teleported in a cloud of foul-smelling sulfur. He reappeared a foot above Magneto's head and dropped straight down on top of the Master of Magnetism. Magneto went down hard with Kurt on top of him.

* * *

The next room was fairly small – it contained a storage closet, a metal desk, a chair, and the heavily preoccupied Simon Kayle. Eyes closed, he was sitting at the desk, eyes closed, occasionally gritting his teeth as something on the other side of his consciousness bothered him. This was the scene that greeted Kitty and Rogue as the former phased the latter through the door. They had no way of knowing that Simon was currently trying to kill their teammates; likewise, Simon was unaware of the current battle underway on Asteroid M.  
  
"_Drain him_," whispered Kitty. Rogue nodded and advanced toward the oblivious teen, bare hands outstretched.  
  
At that moment, Simon opened his eyes.  
  
He saw them.  
  
A gasp and a string of profanities were all that Rogue heard before a blinding flash of light exploded before her and incredible, burning pain coursed through her. Before she fainted, she was dimly aware of Kitty screaming.  
  
_Ah, shit..._

* * *

Jubilee gasped in sudden pain as a heat blast from one of the Danger Room robots cut across her back. Stumbling, she almost fell before Bobby caught her and held her up.  
  
"Don't," he panted. "We're gonna make it..."  
  
She nodded. "Yeah. Sure."  
  
Ororo came up next to them. "They're getting faster," she gasped. "More dangerous."  
  
Bobby rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I... noticed that too..."  
  
Raising his hands, a pulse of blue light shot out in a nova around him. Abruptly, a wall of solid ice surrounded them. He sighed with relief. "Now... we can catch... our breath... at least..."  
  
The three stood there, panting from exertion. Finally Jubilee looked up at Ororo.  
  
"What's doing this?" she asked. "Who's doing this?"  
  
"I don't know," Ororo answered. "Nothing like this has ever happened before. It's as though the system itself is trying to fight us..."  
  
_More accurate than you may think, came a sudden voice in all their heads_. Ororo started.  
  
_Charles_?  
  
_Yes_, he confirmed. _We are under attack from an extremely powerful mutant. He calls himself Megabyte, and is apparently able to control electrical systems. He's taken control of the Danger Ro_om.  
  
"Shit..." whispered Bobby. "Can we fight him?"  
  
_I'm working on it_, came the mental reply. _I have managed to regain control of Cerebro's system. With luck I'll soon be able to break Megabyte's control. You just need to survive until then_.  
  
"Easy for you to say," muttered Jubilee. "Just hurry up, okay?"  
  
_I'm doing my best..._  
  
Suddenly, there was a resounding **crack** as the ice wall shattered inwards. Jubilee and Ororo screamed at the charge of sim-generated opponents; Bobby never had the chance. The others were dimly aware of seeing him crushed into the floor as the next wave of attackers stormed their little fortress.

* * *

Logan ducked under a wild swing and retaliated with a claw-tipped uppercut that sliced into Sabretooth's belly, causing foul-smelling blood to gush all over his arm. The huge man grunted with the sudden pain, but was still able to deliver a sledgehammer blow that sent Logan reeling back. By the time Logan had regained his balance, the wound in Sabretooth's stomach had already healed over.  
"Yer gonna have to do better than that, Runt," he snarled.  
Logan raised his claws. "Gladly."  
They moved in once more.  
  
Scott stumbled back, one hand pressed to his now-swelling jaw. Across from him, Lance cursed as he wiped a steady flow of blood from his nose. Of the two, Scott recovered first, sending an optic blast in Lance's direction; Lance simply caused the floor to crack open in front of him and dropped out of range. Scott advanced cautiously – but not cautiously enough. As he approached the crack in the floor, the tiles on which he stood suddenly shook under him, throwing him to the ground. Lance climbed to the surface and threw himself at the X-Men's captain, and the two of them rolled slowly toward the broken crack in the ground as they struggled and pummelled at one another.  
  
Bolts of fire and energy ricochet off the walls and floor as Wanda and Amara duelled with one another. A backhand blow from Amara sent the Scarlet Witch reeling back; unfortunately, at that moment a stray hex bolt struck Amara in the stomach. Moments later, a tile fell from the roof of the room and smashed against Amara's shoulder, almost knocking her down. By the time she'd recovered, Wanda had reached her once more. When she was within grabbing range, Wanda took hold of Amara's arm and tried to use her free hand to pull the Nova Roman off balance. Amara growled at her, lashed out with one foot, and brought both of them to the ground. She landed badly; Wanda was able to crack Amara's head against the floor tiles and pin the girl beneath her. Reaching down, Wanda smirked into Amara's face as she tightened her hands around Amara's neck and began to throttle her.  
  
Evan's head jerked back as Pietro landed yet another punch to his long-time rival's jaw. Evan had been giving as well as he got for the first part of their fight; now, however, his endurance was waning. The burns on his chest from Simon's electrical charge had hurt him more than he'd let on, and the pain was beginning to make him stiffen up. Shaking his head, he ducked a lightning-fast blow and threw a punch at Pietro's midsection. The speed demon dodged easily.  
"Gettingtired, areweDaniels?"  
"Can it, Pie-pie."  
Evan heard a growl at the sound of the despised childhood nickname, and suddenly he felt himself carried across the room as Pietro threw him into a nearby wall. He tried, but couldn't regain his feet before the speedster reached him again.  
  
Fred and Hank had been grappling against one another for supremacy for some time. However, while Hank enjoyed a marginal size advantage and was even slightly stronger than Fred, he didn't possess Fred's invulnerability to physical harm. His exertions were taking their toll, and Fred was slowly getting the better of the large blue mutant.  
Breaking away, Hank changed his tactics; attempting to knock Fred's feet out from under him, he simultaneously delivered a heavy blow to Fred's skull. The enormous teenager grunted from the impact, then gave Hank an answering blow that knocked the older mutant back and nearly off his feet.  
_Come on now, Hank_, he thought. _You're fairly evenly matched, physically... but you're meant to be a genius... do something_!  
Unfortunately, inspiration didn't come before Fred let out a deep-throated bellow and launched himself into a charge.  
  
In contrast to most of the other battles taking place, Jean was winning a very one-sided fight. Tabitha had managed a few early blows when she'd pounced on the redhead; now, however, she wasn't nearly as successful. Via telepathy, Jean was able to anticipate Tabitha's every move, and simply pre- empted her attacks, knocking the blonde back with ease. Tabitha narrowed her eyes. "Having fun in my head, Red?" she snarled.  
Jean grinned. "Not really – your mind isn't all that advanced..."  
Tabitha glared hot liquid death at Jean.  
_Oh yeah_? Well, two could play mind games.  
_I'm going left_, Tabitha thought. _I'll attack her from the left side_.  
Instantly, Jean began guarding her left.  
Tabitha, fully expecting this, went right.  
Jean hardly knew what had happened.  
A kick from a steel-capped boot almost knocked Jean over, and a freshly generated boom-ball appeared in Tabitha's hand. She smiled coldly. "Not so high and mighty now, are we Red?"  
Jean's eyes widened as the ball of energy arced toward her.  
  
Meanwhile, Todd was getting more than a little frustrated. There were roughly eight Jamies circling him; every time he landed a blow, another pair of opponents appeared. Every time he tried to land a serious blow, the Jamie he'd grabbed simply vanished. Now, Todd snapped out his tongue at one of the Jamies; he abruptly vanished. The nearest one clapped his hands, producing a replacement.  
_Okay_, Todd thought. _I heard about this kid before, right? The original one – he can't disappear. So I gotta find the original_.  
He looked around. There should have been four or five Jamies lying unconscious on the ground by now; however, each time one should have been knocked out, another multiple simply absorbed the injured one. The only Jamies visible were moving around with menace in their identical faces.  
_Eeny Meeny Minie Moe_...  
  
Todd suddenly tensed his legs and launched himself at a random Jamie, now christened as 'Moe'. Todd had expected the Jamie to simply vanish like the others had, but this didn't happen. Instead, his target stood firm, absorbed the blow, then vanished, causing Todd to drop to the ground. He raised himself to his hands and knees, shaking his head. Another Jamie was in front of him; Todd whipped out his tongue once more.  
And this time, it hit.  
_Bingo_...  
Todd pulled the Jamie in toward him and grinned.  
"Gotcha, kid!" he crowed.  
Jamie shook his head. "Nope. We've got you..."  
Todd blinked in confusion, then looked up. His internal temperature dropped well below normal in sudden fear.  
There weren't eight Jamies any more. They'd multiplied yet again.  
Now there were at least thirty of him. All surrounding him. All looking at him. The Jamie that Todd was holding abruptly vanished, quenching any hope Todd had held of getting out of this lightly. Totally defenceless, he looked around the ring of identical faces.  
Thirty teenagers grinned simultaneously back at him and surged forward.  
Todd let out a strangled scream as he disappeared under the pack.  
  
Kurt was growling continuously as he pulled Magneto to his feet once more, and knocked him to the ground with a heavy punch to the head. His initial assault had been so sudden, so fierce, that Magneto had been totally unprepared, and hadn't been able to begin to defend himself. Now, Kurt was holding a powerful upper hand. Grabbing Magneto's arm, he pulled the Master of Magnetism over one shoulder and threw him across the room. As Magneto skidded to a halt, he shook his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Seeing Kurt tense himself to teleport again, Magneto summoned up a weak magnetic field around him, hoping he'd get a chance to use some of his power as a weapon. An instant later, Kurt teleported, and Magneto tensed himself for the impact.  
But the impact never came. Kurt, unexpectedly, reappeared upside-down roughly six feet to Magneto's left. With a surprised cry, he landed ungracefully on his back and scrambled to his feet, glaring at Magneto and wondering what had happened. Magneto, more than a little surprised himself, experimentally increased the power of his magnetic shield.  
Kurt dove toward Magneto again and teleported mid-air, intending to use his momentum as a weapon against Magneto. And, once again, he missed; he reappeared on the other side of his target, and his momentum carried him headfirst into the wall. Kurt groaned as he got to his feet again.  
Magneto suddenly was exuberant as realisation dawned. "You can't target me, can you?" he exulted. "Magnetism affects your abilities, doesn't it? Throws out your senses or something?"  
Kurt shook his head slowly, eyes wide. Nothing like this had ever happened before. He'd known for some time that his teleportation ability had something to do with the magnetic pull of the Earth – he never thought it would be a disadvantage to him...  
Magneto laughed aloud and gestured at Kurt with one hand. Kurt felt his sense of balance vanish and he slumped to the ground once more, leaning helplessly against the wall. A set of six metallic blades detached themselves from somewhere on Magneto's form, and aimed themselves at him. Kurt began struggling to reach his feet as three of the knives suddenly hurtled toward him. 


	12. Chapter 12

Rogue's unconscious form was giving off a slow waft of smoke as Simon prowled the room looking for Kitty. Part of his mind was still focused on his work at the Institute; however, since things were fairly well under control there, he'd set the computers to work for themselves, and the only thing he was really working on was keeping Xavier's wheelchair in motion in the hopes of eventually making roadkill out of Wolfsbane. The rest of his mind was focused on the job at hand. He'd just seen the girls in time to stun one of them; he had half a mind to kill the injured one now, but that would take up valuable time. The second one – Shadowcat, he recalled from Magneto's briefing – had dropped into the floor when Rogue had gone down. Now he wasn't sure where she was.  
"Come out, come out, wherever you are" he called loudly. "Come on now, Shadowcat, give it up. I'll even let you live if you surrender now!"  
There was no answer. He hadn't really expected that to work, anyway  
Suddenly, a faint noise caught his attention – inside the storage closet. With a grin, he crossed over to it, tensed himself, and flung the doors open. Empty.  
He scratched the back of his neck with one hand. _Now what_?  
Then a voice hissed into his ear. "Jerk!"  
He didn't turn around in time before he felt a hard blow to the back of his head, and he was pushed forward into the closet. The doors slammed shut behind him.  
Kitty sighed with relief – she hadn't actually beaten him, but he was second priority for the moment. Her friend came first. Kneeling beside Rogue, she gently shook the prone Goth.  
"Rogue?" she hissed. "Can you hear me?"  
Rogue groaned, giving Kitty some hope. Careful not to touch any exposed skin, she lifted her friend's head and shook her shoulders once more. "Rogue?"  
Rogue's eyes fluttered open and she coughed weakly. "Boy, when geeks go bad" she managed. Kitty grinned.  
"Like, tell me about it," she agreed.  
Rogue looked around carefully. "Whereâ€?"  
"I, like, locked him in the storage closet," Kitty announced proudly.  
"That won't hold him"  
"Like, do you have a better idea?"  
It was a shame that the answer was 'no'. Because at that moment, the closet door exploded open. As sparks of residual energy flew out, Simon followed them with murder in his eyes. A swift blast of energy knocked both girls back, and he giggled at the sight.  
Rogue began to hyperventilate at the sound of that laughter. She'd called him nuts before; she never actually thought he was insane. He was, seriously, a madman.  
The madman giggled again. "Sorry, girls," he informed them, "but it's time up for you two. I don't know where smart-assed bitches go when they die, but when you get there" he grinned. "Say hi to Vicki for me."  
The girls were too frightened to scream as he raised his electrically-charged hands to end it. And to surprised to move when he suddenly froze, eyes wide, listening to something they couldn't hear. Rogue and Kitty exchanged confused glances, but Simon was oblivious to everything but the voice in his head.  
_Hello, Megabyte_, said Professor Charles Xavier. _I believe this is known as 'checkmate'?_

* * *

This fortunate turn of events was of little help to Kurt, however. Back in the larger room, he had managed to regain his feet before the projectiles hit. Just. Now, he spun blindly, dodging as they sliced toward him. Turning around one blade, he ducked the second and lashed out with a fist, knocking the other off course in mid-air. Instinctively, he rolled forward on one shoulder as the other two blades hurtled over his head. He was, in spite of Magneto hampering his senses, preforming admirably.  
But Magneto's power wasn't so pathetic that mere willpower could overcome it. As Kurt evaded the first two blades once more, the third spun sideways in mid-air, slicing toward Kurt's shoulder. It struck, sending a spray of blood into the air nearby. As Kurt howled in agony, the first two blades turned toward him yet again. When he ducked under them, it was then that he saw something strange. Something unexpected.  
There was a black shape flying into the room. It circled over the various struggles going on before seemingly noticing Magneto, whom it moved toward. It was, Kurt realised, some kind of black bird. _A crow, maybe_?  
_No_, he realised, _that wasn't right. It wasn't a crow, and it wasn't a blackbird._  
_It was a raven..._

* * *

Charles walked along the pathways of Megabyte's mind. Here, unlike the real world, his useless legs did not matter one bit – instead, he was able to be whatever he wished. He was, of course, exactly the way he was in the real world, except that he did not choose to restrict himself to a wheelchair.  
On this particular occasion, however, he didn't enjoy the sensation of walking as he sometimes did. This time, simple pleasures were the last things on his mind.  
Or, for that matter, Megabyte's mind.  
Lesions and rifts abounded here, where the mind of an ordinary person was normally ordered and understandable. To anyone else, this seemed incomprehensible; to the experienced Charles, he recognised it clearly as one of the hallmarks of Megabyte's insanity. Unable to resist the temptation, he glanced into the various rifts as he went, seeing fragments of Megabyte's life, the more dramatic moments that had contributed to his psychological collapse.  
_A crowd of people, jeering at him, whilst one of the Jocks of Bayville High mercilessly pounded the helpless boy with his fists. __  
__A remarkably attractive young woman, his sister apparently, screaming insults at him. __  
__His father, consumed with the loss of his wife, shutting the boy out of his life. __  
__Loneliness. __  
__Pain. __  
__Self-pity._  
Charles felt sadness welling up inside him as he recognised, all too well, the events that had fractured the mind of this boy – Simon Kayle, as he now knew him to be – beyond repair. Simon had had so much potential, the will and the intelligence to go far in life. All wasted by the taunts and discriminations of a world that needed someone to step on, and had chosen Simon for the job. When the boy had been so shattered, beginning to believe the claims of others that he was worthless, what Magneto had offered him – overwhelming power – was too beautiful a thing to pass up. He had taken Magneto's deal without question, believing that it would improve his life. Now, the once brilliant young man was no more than the psychotic puppet of a megalomaniac.  
Despite his pity, Charles proceeded with caution nonetheless. Regardless of the how and why of it, he was inside the mind of a psychopath – an extremely intelligent one at that – and Simon was still able to harm him, should he take Charles by surprise. As Charles wandered the paths of Simon's mind, he surrounded himself with psychic armour, always scanning the wilderness of Simon's scattered sanity for threats.  
Walking without incident, he came at last to what he supposed was his destination – a sheer wall, stretching as far as he could see in either direction, likewise straight up. Impenetrable, except for a large, metallic double door before him, with the path leading straight up to it. The stronghold of Simon's mind, and the place he had to enter if he were to save his students and staff. Determinedly, he strode up to the door.  
"Megabyte!" he called. "Open this door!"  
There was no answer.  
"You challenged me. We fought in an arena of your choosing – from which I emerged victorious – and now we fight in mine. Open the door, or I will open it for you!"  
Still, no answer.  
Charles sighed and shook his head. Raising his hands, he focused his power. Were there any to see him in this bizarre landscape, it would have seemed that his eyes glowed and shimmered with his incredible power – a power he flung outwards with the force of a bullet from a gun. With a shattering explosion, the enormous metallic doors smashed inwards, revealing a darkened room. As Charles entered, he sent out another wave of energy, filling the fortress with light. Revealed by the glow, Simon Kayle cowered in a corner, attempting to hide from his opponent even though he knew he'd been discovered. Charles gazed at him, impassive, not allowing any of his sympathy for this boy show.  
"_Salve, moritorium es_," he called. Then he shook his head. "No, Simon, I'm not going to kill you. I simply thought it prudent to return the same greeting you first gave to me."  
Simon snapped upright, a wild light of madness illuminating the air around him. Charles frowned. Yes, he was powerful, but he was in Simon's home ground, and the power of a madman was not to be underestimated.  
"Leave me alone!" Simon screamed. "You hear me, old man? Get out of my goddamn head!"  
"Why?" countered Charles. "You're in my home. You're trying to kill my companions. Why, therefore, should I respect the privacy of your mind?"  
Pure, unrelenting fury shimmered in the mix of emotions swirling around Simon's form. Then he raised one hand – abruptly, that hand was wielding a sword. A shield materialised in his other hand, and he charged forward screaming incoherently.  
Charles stood firm, making no move to protect himself. There was, of course, no need. When Simon came within six feet of Charles, he slammed into an invisible wall and slumped pathetically to the ground. His psychic weapons vanished instantly, and the helpless boy looked up at Charles, terror suffusing the air around him. With a negligent gesture of one hand, Charles lifted Simon's form off the ground with the power of his mind.  
"Goodbye, Megabyte," he said simply. Then he slammed a bolt of psychic energy into his opponent.  
Simon Kayle, both in his mind and in the real world, slumped unconscious to the ground. Charles looked down at the defeated boy, sadness in his eyes. But, sadness or not, there was still a job for him to do. Concentrating his power once more, he began to work within Simon's mind for the final time.

* * *

In the Danger Room, Ororo was fighting desperately, trying to reach Bobby before their opponents finished the weakened boy off. Beside her, Jubilee was filling the air around them with fire and light, shorting out robots and knocking enemies back on every side. Prone on his back, bleeding from a dozen wounds, one leg bent out at an unnatural angle from the first assault that had resulted in one tracked robot driving over the top of him, Bobby was surrounded by sculptures of ice, enemies he'd frozen solid in what seemed to be his indomitable last stand. He had fought harder than he'd ever struggled in his life, putting up an effort that would have made Logan weep with envy. They all had. But there were too many of them, far too many opponents for them to hope to win. They simply didn't have the strength to hold out much longer.  
Which was why, when the simulated battle abruptly shut down, they didn't even move for a full minute, such was their shock.  
What galvanised them into life once more was a familiar voice in all their heads, three simple words that seemed a greater blessing than they could have believed possible.  
_It is over_, Charles informed them all.  
An instant later, Jubilee and Ororo ran to Bobby's side, kneeling next to him, trying to help him up. Tears of relief flowed down Ororo's face – and, not caring in the slightest, she let them come.  
  
Rahne had nothing left. She'd used almost all the strength she had in getting herself into this hopeless, almost comical situation – repeatedly dodging a malevolent wheelchair at the bottom of a giant supercomputer being used by a telepath – and now was at her limit. She'd been avoiding the chair for almost ten minutes now, and it had been getting increasingly difficult. The chair had been increasing in speed, and when at one point she'd attempted to jump into it to avoid being run over, another blast of electrical energy had arced from the exposed wiring and knocked her back down, whining in exhausted pain.  
Now, slower than she'd ever felt in her life, she lurched to one side once more, and knew she'd been too slow – pain flared in her side as the chair clipped her in the side, and she stumbled at last, collapsing in a pile of paws and lashing tail. Unable to regain her feet, she felt a sense of resignation as she watched the wheelchair turning towards her for the final time. Closing her eyes, she panted furiously as she waited for the end.  
Which never came.  
A strange shudder seemed to vibrate through the walls of Cerebro's chamber, and a screeching sound was heard as the wheelchair's automatic brakes kicked in. Rahne, scarcely believing that she'd survived, opened her eyes.  
Seven inches from her lupine face, the chair had come to a stop. For good. 


	13. Chapter 13

Magneto's face was flushed with the foreknowledge of triumph. He'd hoped to recruit Nightcrawler, but it was evident that was not going to happen. This, then, was the next best thing; the defeat and certain death of a formidable opponent. Magneto was, in spite of himself, more than a little awestruck of Kurt's stamina – all of Magneto's power was focused on killing the younger mutant, and he was still on his feet. No-one had ever managed to withstand Magneto's power for this long before, especially someone who should have been so profoundly affected by it. Nightcrawler, it seemed, was truly a foe to be reckoned with.  
But then, so was Magneto.  
At last, after a reasonably drawn-out battle, he'd managed to bring the blue teleporter down. Kurt lay on his back, gasping for breath, six identical blades pinning down on his chest and throat, preventing him from moving. Now, Magneto walked up to the helpless boy.  
"So much potential, Nightcrawler," he said, regretfully. "I'm going to be very sorry to have lost you"  
At that instant, as he prepared to end Kurt's life, he was distracted by a movement above him. He looked up as this new distraction caught his eye.  
Literally.  
The Master of Magnetism screamed in agony as the swooping raven tore his right eye from his head, swooping away with its prize, landing a short distance from the half-blinded mutant. As he watched, his remaining eye screwed up with the incredible pain, the raven grew. An instant later, one hand still stained with Magneto's blood, Mystique glared at him.  
"No," she spat.  
Magneto stumbled onto one knee. "Wh... why... you"  
"Sixteen years, Erik," she continued, ignoring his gasps. "Sixteen years ago, you cost me the one thing I believed no-one would ever be able to take from me. You doomed me to this fate – hated by my own children, the only ones who should have cared for me. You doomed him to an even worse one – my protection would have meant that the Genetex agents never took him. Sixteen years ago, you cost me my son." Her glare shifted up a notch, becoming so venomous that even Scott's optic blasts were rivalled by it. "You will not take that from me again."  
With Mystique having distracted Magneto, the metallic shards pinning Kurt to the floor had dropped harmlessly away along with the pressure hampering Kurt's senses. The sense of disorientation hadn't gone away, however – he was listening to what Mystique was saying, and the shock was almost as effective in preventing him from getting up.  
_This is impossible_, he told himself. _She can't be my mother..._  
_But it does explain an awful lot..._  
Kurt shook his head and scrambled to his feet, blood dripping from his injured shoulder. Maternal linkages or not, he could focus on the how and why of his situation later. All that was important was that his opponent was distracted, and the odds had improved considerably in his favour. Now he had to work with those odds.  
Kurt Wagner still had a job to do.

* * *

Shortly after Simon had toppled to the ground, Kitty and Rogue had gotten to their feet, still half-expecting the unconscious mutant to rise once more and continue his attempts to kill them. Having convinced themselves that he was no longer a threat – at least for the moment – they had left the smaller side-room and entered the main hall.  
Pandemonium greeted them.  
Pairs of struggling figures rolled back and forth on the ground, trading blow for blow as they fought like wild animals. Old nemesis and new enemies battled one another as they watched, speechless at the violence before them. For a moment, they were too shocked to move or speak.  
"Intense, isn't it?" asked a small voice beside them. Turning, they found a Jamie standing there, looking around with as much awe as the girls had felt.  
"Jamie?" asked Kitty. "Like, what are you doing?"  
He shrugged. "I'm the original, so I'm kinda standing back so my multiples can keep going. If I go down, we all go down," he said, by way of explanation. "The guys are over there -" he gestured toward a pack of Jamies who were subduing a bruised and bloody Todd "- and I was just going to see how you two were doing."  
Rogue grinned. "Simon's not gonna bother us," she informed the smaller boy. "In fact, he ain't gonna bother no-one for a while."  
Jamie shrugged again. "Okay. In that case, you guys wanna help take out some of the others?"  
Kitty raised an eyebrow. "You want to beat people up? You've, like, been totally spending too much time with Mr. Logan."  
"Probably," agreed Jamie absently as he resumed his view of the room. Jean... Amara... Hank... Evan... they were all either winning their respective fights, or Jamie wouldn't have been able to damage their opponents anyway... Kurt... _who the hell is that helping Kurt_?  
"Hey," he gestured. "What's with the blue lady?"  
Kitty and Rogue turned to see. "Like, don't ask me," replied Kitty. Rogue recognised Mystique, but shrugged too, and Jamie shook his head.  
"Oookaaaaay... well, he's okay for the moment" he surveyed the room once more. "I'm gonna go help Scott," he decided aloud. He gave a little wave to the girls. "Bye!" With that, he ran back into the fray. Rogue looked at Kitty.  
"So what are we gonna do?" she asked.  
Kitty shrugged, looking around the room herself. "Mr. Logan needs help," she said slowly. She looked at Rogue. "Come on! We're gonna totally help him!"  
"Kit! Wait! Aw, shiiiiiiit..." Rogue called after the valley girl's retreating back with no success. Grumbling, she followed. "The things ah get mahself into"

* * *

Blood and gore dripped from the hole in Magneto's face as he focused his energy once more. "ENOUGH!" he roared, his voice given energy by his incredible fury and the burning, blinding pain in his head. With one hand, he gestured; the six identical blades that had before pinned Kurt to the ground rose into the air and hurtled, spinning, toward Mystique. The shapeshifter hissed angrily and spun away, dodging the various blades as she went. Magneto turned, allowing the whirling knives to keep Mystique busy, and focused his attention on Kurt. As the blue teenager bounded toward him, snarling, Magneto simply pointed at him. Kurt stopped dead, unable to move as a bubble of magnetic energy pinned him down. Then his eyes bulged as the iron in his blood began to rebel against him. He tried to scream, a sound that was choked both by the fiery pain he was feeling and the anger driving him on. The sound that eventually found its way out of his throat was an animalistic snarl of pain and outrage. Magneto's lip curled in disgust.  
"Goodbye, Nightcrawler," he grated. Blood began to drip from Kurt's nose as his blood tried to reverse its flow. Triumph flared in Magneto's remaining eye, turning his face into a grimacing mask of blood, terrifying to behold.  
A mask that abruptly transformed, his expression changing from victorious elation to painful shock as he felt himself lifted bodily off the ground by Mystique's arm around his throat. Not an arm, precisely – it had been transformed into a tentacle-like appendage, and was rapidly choking the air out of his lungs.  
"Quoth the raven," hissed a voice in his ear, "_NEVERMORE_"  
Magneto, unable to answer, narrowed his remaining eye. A twirling sound came from behind him, abruptly cut off by a short scream from Mystique. The tentacle removed itself from around his neck, and he turned around to see the shapeshifter tugging at a metal blade embedded in her shoulder. He smiled coldly, concentrated, and suddenly Mystique lifted off the ground, her blood twisting in her veins much as Kurt's had a moment before. At that thought, Magneto's smile dropped away. _Nightcrawler... damn it, I forgot to_  
Abruptly he was thrown forwards as Kurt crash-tackled him from behind, bringing Magneto down in an ungraceful heap. The older man grunted and began to focus his power; however, at the first hint of a magnetic field appearing around him, detected by his magnetic senses, Kurt smashed one fist into Magneto's good eye, causing the skin around it to swell instantly, shutting his other eye and leaving him completely blind – at least for the moment. Unable to see, Magneto roared in anger and threw himself backwards, crushing Kurt into the floor with his weight. Next to them, Mystique dropped out of the air, gasping for breath.  
Kurt landed heavily with the older man on top of him, a magnetic field already hampering his senses. This time, however, he was too angry to let it slow him down. Kicking upwards, he pushed Magneto off him, flipping the older mutant onto his back. Kurt rose once more and pounced on the stunned Magneto. In an instant, he had him in a headlock. Looking up, he saw Mystique struggling to regain her feet, still panting.  
Beneath Kurt, Magneto bucked furiously. Loosening Kurt's hold on his throat, he managed to speak. "Willâ€ getâ€ youâ€ Nightcrawler"  
Another blade suddenly whipped out from underneath Magneto's cape, narrowly missing Kurt as it spun past him. Turning in the air like some metallic boomerang, it curled not toward Kurt, but toward Mystique. Kurt looked at her, horrified, as realisation dawned – there was no way she could dodge it in time.  
_Magneto was going to kill her. There was nothing he could do. __  
__No, there was one thing. __  
__He couldn't do that. __  
__He had to._  
Gritting his teeth, Kurt took in his surroundings. There was only one way he could stop what was going to happen, and only a few seconds in which to do it. Tensing himself, he did it.  
Tightening his grip on Magneto's neck, he threw himself forwards, rolling over one shoulder. Magneto, totally unprepared for this, rolled with him, his neck twisted at an impossible angle as the weight of his body pulled against the force of his fall. As Kurt hit the ground, a loud **crack **sounded at the motion.  
The Master of Magnetism slumped to the ground, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle, lifeless. Not far away, Mystique rose swiftly to her feet as the spinning blade clattered uselessly against the floor some ten feet in front of her. As she looked at her son, Kurt released the body, trembling at the knowledge of what he'd done. In one moment he had saved a life and taken another. _Did this pardon him? Would he go to hell for murdering another, or would God forgive him for his actions, since he'd saved another's life_? He didn't know.  
When Kurt fought down his inner turmoil enough to look up once more a moment later, Mystique was already gone.  
  
Evan gritted his teeth as Pietro punched him in the stomach again. The attacks had been relentless, now – Pietro knew he had the advantage, and wasn't giving Evan time to fight back. Both hands were a blur of speed as they pummelled Evan's body, jolting him with every impact. Suddenly, the rapid-fire blows stopped.  
Pietro smiled down at his helpless enemy. "You lose, Daniels," he said, speaking slowly enough for the woozy Evan to understand him. Drawing back his fist, he threw what was going to be the final punch, aiming it directly between Evan's eyes. He was on target, and a crack of breaking bone echoed through the air.  
Pietro screamed.  
His hand had struck a barrier of solid bone that had suddenly grown over Evan's face, catching the punch before it hit. The crack of breaking bone had been Pietro's wrist and at least three of his fingers.  
Evan grinned.  
Abruptly, the bony plate protecting the upper portion of Evan's face changed. A rhinoceros horn of bone grew from the centre of Evan's face, rapidly stabbing out into Pietro's damaged hand, impaling it on a spike of bone. Pietro's scream gained strength as his hand was run through, stumbled back in pain. Evan moved forward at the same time, knowledge of victory shining in his eyes. Kicking Pietro's feet out from under him, he pressed both palms to the speedster's chest as he fell, pressing his back firmly against the floor. He concentrated his powers, and a spider's web of bone straggled out from his spread fingers, expanding over Pietro's chest, stabbing into the floor on either side of him, thickening into solid plates.  
When Evan finally stood, his adversary lay helpless, pinned to the ground beneath a solid breastplate of bone. He smirked.  
"So much for you, Pie-pie."  
  
Tabitha gaped at the sight before her. She'd been peppering Jean with a series of boom-balls, attempting to knock the redheaded telepath down, where she'd be easy prey. That plan, it seemed, had backfired.  
Half a dozen balls of plasma energy hung suspended in the air between the two girls. On the other side of this explosive obstacle, Jean glared at Tabitha with her hands outstretched, exerting her control over the collective boom-balls.  
"I've had enough of you," Jean growled. With a wave of her hand, she sent the balls of energy hurtling toward Tabitha. Tabitha screamed and tried to get out of the way, but ran up against a telekinetic wall. She couldn't move.  
The balls of energy impacted on the ground all around Tabitha; as the last one detonated, Jean released her hold on the blonde, letting the blast of energy send her flying across the room. Tabitha hit the ground, rolled, came to a stop. Panting, she looked up at Jean, who simply put her hands to her temples. Moments later, Tabitha felt a mental probe in her mind. She had no time to react; she couldn't have reacted if she did have time. Either way, a blast of telepathic energy knocked her unconscious in seconds.  
  
Wanda looked down at the prone Amara and grinned victoriously. She knew a fair bit about human anatomy; that knowledge told her that the Nova Roman was only a few moments from losing consciousness. Considering the length of time that Wanda had been choking her, pressing Amara into the floor with her entire weight, she couldn't have much energy left.  
Which was why Wanda was so confused when the victorious grin was returned tenfold. However, she never had time to react; Amara's body suddenly shifted, becoming little more than a humanoid fireball, into which Wanda's entire body sank, a result of her having been pressing down on Amara so hard.  
Wanda screamed in blinding agony as she felt the flames sear her flesh. Rolling off to one side, still screaming, she tried frantically to put out the miniature fires all over her body. She succeeded fairly quickly, although the pain nearly caused her to pass out. Then she looked up. And whimpered.  
Amara, standing above her, glared back down. A smirk crossed Amara's features for an instant.  
"Never forget your place, peasant," she informed Wanda. A moment later, a boot connected solidly with Wanda's head, knocking the girl unconscious.  
  
Hank ducked out of the way as Fred thundered past, bellowing in anger.  
Alright, he thought. Strategic planning evidently is not working. Attempts to meet him head-on will obviously end in failure. So, what to do?  
Fred lumbered to a halt, spun, and charged once more, rather like a bull charging a matador.  
_Yes_, Hank thought. _Making me the matador... but I don't have a red cape... so how does one stop a charging bull with one's bare hands_?  
It was simple, really.  
As Fred rumbled past once more, Hank sidestepped lithely. Waved his hands with a flourish. And spun ever so slightly so that he could slam a large blue fist into Fred's groin.  
Fred's roar of fury was abruptly cut off by a strangled squeaking sound. He tripped, stumbled, fell, and with an 'Ulk' sound, assumed the foetal position. Hank scratched his head as he stood over the fallen behemoth.  
"Crude, but effective," he mused. He bent down to speak quietly. "But if anyone asks, I'll say I used more traditional fighting methods"  
After all, it wouldn't do for him to gain a reputation for fighting dirty.  
  
Fighting dirty was, of course, Logan's arena. He knew all about fighting dirty, and while he usually tried to put up a fair fight, he had one specific exception to this personal rule. This exception was currently trying to tear Logan's eyes out with his enormous hands. Logan snarled and swung one set of claws at the offending arm; he felt a slight tug as two fingers on Sabretooth's hand parted company with the rest of his body. Sabretooth let out a roar at the sudden stinging pain and pounded his other fist into Logan's chest, knocking the smaller man back a few paces. Logan advanced again, claws raised, discounting Sabretooth's injured hand, the hand he couldn't possibly use because it would have been too painful, the hand Sabretooth wouldn't be fighting with.  
The hand that Sabretooth slammed, with all of his considerable strength, into Logan's unprotected face.  
The short, burly Canadian's vision exploded into bright colours as he felt himself fall onto his back. His healing factor kicked in, trying to heal the damage in time for him to get up – but too late. His starry vision cleared enough to see Sabretooth's form looming over him, raising both fists, sending them crashing down for what was going to be the final blow of their long-standing war. Logan was dimly aware, an instant before impact, of a slight tug on one arm. He was more aware of the faintly cool sensation that rippled through him as Sabretooth's fists were millimetres from his chest. And he was very aware of his confusion as both of Sabretooth's hands passed straight through him without a check, slamming into the solid floor beneath him.  
"Now _that's_, like good timing!" announced a voice next to his head. Turning his head, he saw Kitty holding one arm, phasing them both and protecting them from harm. As he gaped in astonishment, they began to sink into the floor, out of danger. Sabretooth roared and snarled in utter fury, swinging and slashing at the two smaller mutants, but was unable to harm them. As they disappeared entirely into the floor, he noticed something else – someone else. Spinning around, he saw Rogue standing next to him. But he only saw her for a second; because as he turned, her bare hand pressed firmly onto the skin of one massive bicep. He was instantly paralysed by the sensation of being drained; a moment later, he crashed spectacularly to the floor, his mind in regression as his strength flowed into Rogue.  
As Kitty and Logan swam up through the floor and solidified next to her, Rogue felt the unpleasant sensation of dank fur sprouting all over her. Kitty's sudden fit of giggling confirmed it – she'd taken on Sabretooth's physical characteristics as well.  
"Shut it," she growled at them. "I just saved both of ya, so don't laugh."  
Remembering that the fur came with considerable strength, not to mention Sabretooth's rather unpleasant disposition, Logan and Kitty did the wise thing. They shut it.  
  
Scott grunted with pain as he was thrown onto his back, Lance diving on top of him a moment later. The enraged rock tumbler glared at him, a look that was made more menacing by his broken nose.  
"Now you're fucked, shades," he spat. Pinning Scott's arms down with his knees, he drew back his fist and punched Scott savagely in the face. Then he hit him in the chest. Then he prepared to punch Scott's face again. Then he made his mistake.  
He looked up.  
He barely had time to register Jamie's hurtling form before the younger boy flying-tackled him, sending them both tumbling backwards with Jamie on top. For a moment, Lance was too stunned to retaliate – this kid was half his size, yet he'd attacked him full-strength_. This just didn't happen, damn it_!  
Then he shook his head and swiped at Jamie. Jamie grinned at him and clapped his hands; a multiple appeared and took the punch on his shoulder. Another four multiples appeared from the impact of the punch. As five new opponents lined up next to the original, Lance's jaw dropped as he realised how Todd had been beaten by what he'd thought to be some wimpy little kid.  
And, as he gaped at the small group of Jamies, he never saw Scott regain his feet. He also never saw the blast of kinetic energy that knocked him out cold. As he landed heavily, already out of it, Jamie rejoined with his multiples and turned to look at Scott.  
"Soâ€ I saved you" he said slowly.  
Scott grinned wearily. "Yeah, I noticed that too," he agreed.  
"Does this put me in charge?"  
Scott walked over and patted the smaller boy on the back. "I'll think about it," he replied mildly. "Now come on."  
Together, they rejoined with the others. 


	14. Chapter 14

The regrouped X-Men stood in a rough circle, the uniformly unconscious Brotherhood scattered about the rest of the room. One by one, they briefly outlined their respective battles and their outcomes; Logan and Hank had, at first, mocked one another for being rescued by the students and fighting dirty, respectively. Now they'd come to an agreement whereupon neither of them mentioned their fights. It was easier that way.  
Of the assembled group, there were few injuries. Evan and Scott had numerous bruises and scratches, Amara and Jean were suffering a few minor bumps, and Kurt had a nice gash in his arm. Evan and Rogue also sported minor burns from their respective encounters with Megabyte's power, but aside from that, the victors were unharmed. The only real shocks had come from Rogue and Kitty's announcement of the Professor defeating Simon, and Mystique aiding Kurt in bringing down Magneto. Kurt was now standing between Amara and Jamie, quiet, still dressed in the jeans and shirt he'd been abducted in, which were by now torn and bloodstained. The others had listened to a halting summary of his battle with Magneto, and fully understood his emotions – after all he'd been through, Kurt had finally been forced to take a life. Now they had to hope that the knowledge of what he'd done didn't tear him apart.  
"Looks like we ain't so bad at rescue attempts after all, Elf," Logan announced with a cheer that wasn't entirely false.  
Scott grinned. "Well, we learn slow, but we learn well," he agreed. Next to him, Evan chuckled.  
"You're getting better at those one-liners," he informed Scott. Kitty yawned and stretched.  
"Well, I'm, like, all rescued out," she told the others in general. "Can we, like, go home now?"  
Rogue nodded. "Seconded," she agreed. With various comments of assent, the group began to head toward the ragged hole in the wall where the door had once stood. Jamie looked behind them.  
"Shouldn't we tie them up or something?" he asked. Logan paused, then shook his head.  
"Ain't no need, squirt. With Maggie outa the picture, they ain't gonna be a threat to no-one. We can leave 'em here for now."  
Kurt looked troubled. "And what of Simon?" he asked. "I, for one, do not trust him to walk away from this easily. You said that he was simply out cold, and therefore will be waking up soon... should we not do something about that?"  
Charles' voice sounded in all their heads. _I wouldn't worry about Megabyte, Kurt. Yes, he will awaken, but I don't think he's going to be much of a threat to any of us._  
Jean raised one eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" she asked. "When he wakes up, he's not going to be a happy little man. And an angry lunatic with all that power" she shuddered theatrically. "Ouch"  
_An angry lunatic he may be, Jean_, came Charles' reply. _But an angry lunatic with power he is not. Megabyte is incapable of accessing his abilities. I have placed a barrier in his mind to prevent it. He cannot use his powers again_.  
Hank looked impressed. "You can do that?"  
_You should know by now, Hank. I can do anything_  
Evan grinned. "Now that's a one-liner."  
_Return to the institute. Your work on Asteroid M is done, and there is much to do here. You've done well, everyone_.  
As they headed for the exits, Kurt hung back, his gaze drawn irresistibly toward Magneto's body. Logan came up next to him and spoke softly.  
"Sometimes, Elf..." he said quietly, "...bad shit happens. We can't stop it; we can't change it; we can't decide what's gonna happen, or when it's gonna happen, or who it's gonna affect. That's the way things are. And I know this won't help much now, but there's somethin' ya gotta realise. That even if we can't have a say in what happens in the world, we can have a say in how it effects us."  
Kurt looked up, eyes glowing faintly, saying nothing. Logan continued.  
"Ya did what ya had to do. There's a lot of people wouldn't have done it in your situation. And, there's a lot who would've done it, and enjoyed it. You didn't do either. Ya took the lesser of two evils, Elf. That takes more guts than people will admit, and only a decent person can do it." Logan clapped a hand onto Kurt's shoulder. "You're a good kid. What ya did ain't a nice thing, but it was the best ya could have done, and better than most people could do. Don't let anyone else tell ya otherwise."  
Kurt nodded. "Thank you, Herr Logan," he whispered. Together, they turned and walked towards where the others waited at the exit.

* * *

A short time later, the Blackbird roared away from Asteroid M. Behind them, the darkened station was still and seemingly lifeless. None of them commented; none of them noticed. None of them even looked back.

* * *

Twenty-four hours later, the dining room was once again filled as the evening meal was presented and, predictably, demolished. Around the table sat the entirety of the X-Men, some sporting wounds of war, others not quite so noticeable. Rahne wore a dressing gown over her pyjamas; although her injuries weren't all that serious, she'd been in a state of extreme exhaustion ever since they'd lifted her from the bottom of Cerebro's chamber. In Ororo and Hank's opinion, she should have been in bed; however, she'd insisted on eating with the others.  
Next to her sat Bobby, hero of the moment as far as the younger students were concerned. He sported a cast on one leg that had been broken by the Danger Room's opponents, but it didn't trouble him too much – it had been almost worth it to see Logan's reaction to their story, and the attention he was getting from the others was certainly worth it. Jubilee in particular was waiting on him hand and foot – as far as she was concerned, Bobby's efforts had saved her life more than once during the battle in the Danger Room. Her injuries had consisted of no more than a few burns and bruises, so the only thing that she had to put up with now was the teasing of the others for taking care of Bobby, or as some of the others had put it, becoming his 'love-slave'.  
Jamie, the next in line, was if anything more of a hero than Bobby. Logan, who'd promised to punish the youngest member of the team for stowing away on the Blackbird, had completely changed his tune – now, he was praising Jamie as an example of bravery for not only coming along on a dangerous mission but also managing to defeat both Todd and Lance. Jamie, shy by nature, had recriminated all of the compliments, but nonetheless was on the receiving end of a new level of respect from the others.  
Evan wasn't being considered a hero by anyone. He couldn't have cared less. As far as he was concerned, he was safe, his friends were safe, and best of all, Pietro had gone down. The two rivals had had their long-awaited showdown, and hey surprise, Evan had won! The biggest winner had, naturally, been Evan's ego; however, the general air of exuberance in the mansion enabled the others to put up with it.  
Kitty was being cautiously complimented by the others on her efforts. She'd displayed no more skill than the others had already known she'd had. What had surprised everyone was a certainâ€ passion for violence they hadn't suspected she had in her. She didn't really care all that much, and for her part wondered why no-one wanted to fight her in the danger room any more. Next to her, Rogue had eventually worn down from the influence of draining Sabretooth, although she'd been more than a little angry with the world in general for a while there. Mostly happy at surviving, she was back to her old, vaguely pessimistic self again.  
Scott and Jean's respective images hadn't changed. Scott had at first raised a few eyebrows by admitting that Lance had almost gotten the better of him; he'd retorted that, after all, it had been him to get everyone out of Magneto's prison, so things had pretty much averaged out for him. Jean, who'd had not much of a part in the proceedings other than her defeat of Tabitha, was very much at the same level of popularity and respect as before the mission.  
Kurt had, not surprisingly, been fairly quiet ever since the rescue. Being a prisoner had brought back a few unpleasant memories that he was bottling up, rather than share with the others; added to this was his eventual killing of Magneto, a serious breach of his code of ethics, and the revelation that Mystique may have been more closely connected to him than anyone had thought. Mystique hadn't been heard from, although attempts were being made to locate her, so far without success. Kurt's silence was his way of dealing with the heavy stress he found himself under, although he was slowly beginning to come out of his shell once more, to the cautious relief of others.  
Next to him, Amara had been almost as quiet, excepting a few attempts to cheer the blue mutant up. Her victory over Wanda had surprised quite a few of the others, and her sudden display of loyalty to the rest of the X-Men had raised her popularity quite a few rungs. This newfound popularity hadn't prevented a certain amount of gentle teasing, however – there was a betting pool as to when she was eventually going to hook up with a certain German boy, currently being led by Kitty.  
At one end of the table sat the adults. Logan and Hank were talking companionably, much to the surprise of Ororo, who believed them still to be engaged in one argument or another. In truth, their friendship had grown after the rescue mission, a new level of respect for one another surprising each of them. Ororo had escaped serious injury in the Danger Room, although she was understandably worn out; still, she was energetic enough to watch the two men warily at all times, expecting a fight to break out at any moment.  
Charles was sitting in his usual place at the head of the table, watching the others, an almost paternal smile on his features. This expression was, however, well deserved; the fruits of his proverbial labour had come to ripen. His students had faced their penultimate test, and evidently had passed with flying colours; the Brotherhood was broken and defeated, and the confidence of the students had risen almost beyond belief. Things were not perfect, of course – the dejected blue teenager sitting nearby was a testament to that – but they were getting better. One day, perhaps soon, these young adults would be ready for the world. With any luck, the world would soon be ready to recieve them.  
Charles smiled to himself as he took a drink from his glass and listened vaguely to the buzz of conversation around him.  
_No_, he thought, _things aren't perfect_. _Maybe they never will be. __  
__But they don't get much better than this_.  
Separated from the world around them by a barrier no-one could see, but was there nonetheless, the group of mutants feasted together, glowing from their victory. Not necessarily a part of the world they lived in; but for once, for that night at least, they couldn't have cared less.


	15. Epilogue

Ororo sighed to herself as she entered her greenhouse – a tiny sanctuary from the everyday chaos that prevailed within the Institute. Ever since the attack from Megabyte, she'd been on edge, and this was the first time she'd been able to retreat to her private area to rejuvenate her tired spirits. Reaching down to a table near the entrance, she retrieved a few sticks of incense and carried them to the center of the room. Meditation wasn't an accurate word for what she did here, but it was close; she surrounded herself in the beauty of nature, cut off from the noise of the world outside. Between the beauty of her beloved plants, the scent of her incense, and the soft sound of running water, occasionally overlaid by music, she found a sense of peace here she couldn't find anywhere else.  
Carefully, she arranged the incense sticks around a decorative fountain she'd installed and lit each of them in turn. Standing back, she felt something missing. _Yes_, she thought, her gaze settling on a miniature CD player. _A little music to set the mood..._  
Shortly, the sounds of string instruments filled the air from a classical music compilation, completing Ororo's sense of calm. One by one, she began to tend to her plants, occasionally pausing to sway softly to the music or inhale the aroma of her incense. She soon felt relaxed, at peace with the world, calm.  
And unusually energetic at the same time. Often, the peace granted by the greenhouse made her slightly drowsy, something she'd expected today, after winding down from the stress of recent events. Instead, she felt unspent energy bubbling up inside of her. Without knowing why, she giggled softly to herself as she approached a rosebush.  
She felt good; she didn't know why; and that lack of knowledge, for once, didn't faze her at all.

* * *

Inside, Hank and Logan were in the video surveillance room. Their excuse to the others was that they needed to see if Megabyte had done any serious damage to the system; that, of course, wasn't the case. Ororo had never really paid attention to the security camera she'd allowed the others to install in her greenhouse, and she certainly wasn't now. Hank and Logan, of course, knew exactly why she wasn't paying attention to the cameras. Or to anything, for that matter, except for her beloved plants.  
Hank, holding a beer donated to him by Logan, stirred in his seat. "Kudos, my friend," he said companionably to the shorter, burlier Canadian. "thinking to treat her incense like that... a master stroke of genius."  
Logan grinned. "Ya didn't do so bad yerself, Poindexter," he retorted. "You got hold of the plant, and you were the one knew how ta mix it up with the incense." Hank merely smiled and returned his attention to the video screen.  
As they watched, faint smoke from the incense sticks swirled in the air, visible in the extra-sensitive view of the security monitors. Also visible was Ororo as she leaned over the rosebush, explaining why it shouldn't leave its husband without finding out for certain if he was cheating on her.  
  
Cannabis is useful in the treatment of some medical problems. When used on someone without a medical problem, however, it can have surprising effects.  
"You realise that this will not help our problem in the long run?" asked Hank eventually. "Here and now, it's improved her mood admirably, but once it wears off..."  
"...we can't tell anyone," Logan finished for him. "I know that. Still, like ya said, we gotta start somewhere..." Hank nodded in agreement, and Logan raised his beer in a toast. "Here's ta being immature, Poindexter."  
Hank tapped his bottle lightly against Logan's. "As we grow older, may we grow more childish with each passing day," he agreed warmly.  
Taking a pull from their respective drinks, the two friends settled in to watch the show.

* * *

In another part of the mansion, Amara sat on the couch in the Rec room, legs curled up underneath her. Aside from her presence, the room was entirely empty, the lamp by the end of the couch casting its glow over the room, combining with the sunlight pouring in the open windows to light the room fairly well. Easily well enough, for a change, to prevent a certain blue mutant from vanishing into the shadows as he entered the room. Amara's eyes flickered up as he walked in, and a faint smile accompanied her nod of greeting before she returned her attention to her book.  
Kurt crossed the room and took a seat in the armchair next to the couch. "Hello, princess," he greeted the Nova Roman. Amara smiled again and closed her book.  
"Peasant," she returned the greeting. The title and lack thereof had become something of a game between them, and now the easy air between them settled into place. Amara sat up. "How are you feeling?" she asked softly.  
Kurt blew out a lungful of air. "I have been better," he admitted. "Things... have become very complicated recently..."  
Amara nodded. "I know," she replied. "I can see it. We all can. You're so tense."  
A wave of Kurt's hand dismissed her concerns. "Give me time, Amy. I will, as you say, bounce back from this. This is... difficult, ja... but nothing I cannot deal with."  
Amara shrugged faintly. "If you say so." She rose from the couch and crossed to the window, looking outside into the world. A moment later, she sensed rather than saw Kurt's presence beside her.  
"Actually..." his voice was more quiet than usual. "...there was something I wished to discuss with you."  
Amara cleared her throat. "What?"  
A pause. "I am terrible with these American sayings, but I think the correct one is that... with all of this business with the Brotherhood taking me the other night, I have 'stood you up', ja?"  
Part of Amara's brain had stopped working. By concentrating, she was able to answer. "Yes, I... I suppose so"  
"Sehr gut." Kurt shook his head. "No, I mean, it is not good, but it -" he broke off, chuckling at himself. "Shall we move on? What I was going to say was that I now am obliged to make it up to you, ja?"  
Amara swallowed. "What did you have in mind? If you are offering, I am free tonight..."  
Kurt shook his head, smiling faintly. "Ja, but I was perhaps thinking of something more relevant to this moment." Amara turned slowly to face him, a faint smile visible on his indigo features. "Princess," he said softly.  
"Peasant," came the equally soft reply.  
Kurt was almost a full head taller than Amara. Because of this, he had to bend slightly as he kissed her gently on the lips. Neither of them cared.  
A breeze came in the window, blowing both of their shoulder-length hair around their faces. They barely noticed, remaining in the same pose for some time, seemingly oblivious to the world around them. In particular, the small group of people standing at the door.  
Kitty pumped her fist, grinning in victory. "_Yes_!" she hissed to the others. "_It's not even six o' clock yet! I win the money pool!"_  
Scott, Jean, Rogue and Evan rolled their eyes in perfect unison before Scott began shepherding them away from the door.  
  
By the window, Kurt and Amara broke away from their embrace. "Are they gone yet?" Amara whispered. Kurt listened attentively.  
"Ja, they are."  
"Good."  
With that, they resumed their previous embrace, the cares of the world dropping away around them. Standing there, his girl in his arms, Kurt felt peace fill him, making him content.  
The hell with running from your past. And the hell with hiding from your future.  
  
This was real. This was now. This was living.  
  
And that was all that really mattered.

* * *

Halfway across the country, a nameless orderly pushed his broom down an otherwise empty hallway, cleaning the white tiled floor. At equal twenty-meter intervals, doors branched off the hallway into identical small rooms.  
Rooms, cells, same thing.  
The orderly continued sweeping, approaching the end of the hall. The final door was, unlike most of the others, heavily barred, with a small glass observation window set into it at eye level. As the orderly passed, he almost stepped back in shock as he saw a furiously grimacing face pressed up to the glass. A few inches below the window, a simple engraved plate read 'Room 105. Kayle, S.'  
"Hey! Hey, you!" a muffled voice came through the heavy door – a young voice, the orderly thought. Some teenage kid, maybe. He didn't answer, it was part of his job to ignore these people, but the kid kept yelling at him. "Let me out of here! Let me out right now!"  
The orderly kept sweeping. The voice became furious. "HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU! LET ME OUT OF HERE, OR I'LL BURN YOU! YOU HEAR ME? I'LL BURN YOU DEAD!!" The orderly shook his head and continued ignoring the kid. His voice fell, becoming secretive, cunning.  
"I can make it worth your while, you know. I'm Megabyte. Know what that means? I can get you anything you want. Anything, anything, anything..."  
The kid's voice broke off in incoherent babbling and sobs. Finished with this end of the hall, the orderly tucked his broom under one arm and picked up the dustpan with his free hand. As he walked away, his footsteps rang clearly off the tiles, echoing throughout the corridors. It was the only sound that could be heard, once the wild babbling from inside room 105 had faded away.  
It was the only sound – but there was no-one else in the corridors to hear it.  
The orderly shook his head again as he walked away. Even after all these years, the nut jobs still had the knack of spooking him. After a moment, he reached a small janitor's closet. Exchanging his broom for a mop and bucket, he resumed his task of cleaning the darkened hallways of the insane asylum.  
Outside, it began to rain. As Simon Kayle slumped against the wall of his room, staring out the window, lightning flashed. A criss-cross pattern of shadow fell across his face, briefly illuminated by the fork of lightning, broken by the bars across his window.  
The great Megabyte had lost his war.  
Simon Kayle buried his head in his hands as the rain increased its pace.  
  
**THE END**. 


	16. From The Author

Greetings and salutations!

I hope you appreciated the second part of the **_Genetex Saga_**. Apologies are deserved for how long it took to update thisâ€ Real Life has been cruel to me, alas.

In the not-too-distant-future I hope to begin part three, which I will no doubt post here as well. Thanks to all who have reviewed and stuck with it this far... Genetex will hopefully one day be a five-part saga, which is something to look forward to.

A final note is again one of thanks, to Shkspr1048, the Great Space Monkey and Messiah of Muses, who helped me work out some serious kinks in this story. Thanks, buddy.

See you all again sometime.


End file.
